OLYMPIC-BOUND swimmer Dylan Carter splashed to gold in the men's 50-metre backstroke final on day two of the Mare Nostrum Series in Barcelona, Spain on Sunday.

The University of Southern California-based athlete touched the wall in 25.99 seconds to claim the top spot ahead of silver medallist Manuel Martos Bacarizo, who clocked 26 seconds flat and bronze receiver Alejandro Calderon Iglesias in 26.14 seconds.

In this preliminary race, Carter (25.51 seconds) qualified with the fastest time of both qualifying heats.

Later on, the 25-year-old finished seventh in the men's 100m freestyle A final. He clocked 50.10 seconds with a 50-metre split time of 24.05 seconds. In the earlier round of qualifiers, Carter clocked the ninth fastest time of 50.13 seconds to snag a spot in the final.

On Saturday, Carter swam to silver in the men's 100m backstroke final. Carter stopped the clock in 55.27 seconds to claim second spot behind winner Hugo Gonzalez de Oliveira, who set a new Mare Nostrum tour record with his blistering 53.08 performance.

In the prelims, Carter secured a spot in the final by finishing third fastest in 56.14 seconds.

At last weekend's Monaco leg of the Mare Nostrum, the TT swimmer held on to bronze in the men's 100m freestyle in 49.98 seconds.

Carter is preparing for the Olympic Games in Tokyo, Japan and is using these top-flight meets to sharpen up on his technique in search of precious Olympic metal.

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