SHAWNEE – Five Oklahoma Baptist swimmers put themselves to the test against an elite field June 16 and 17 at the Mare Nostrum Series in Monaco.

Celina Marques, Jamie Edwards, Victoria Fonville, Josip Miskovic and David Lambert competed against Olympic gold medalists.

"We went there and swam against gold medalists and our kids were not intimidated," said OBU Coach Sam Freas. "These races aren't about times, but who you are racing. This will help us for next year."

The format also was different with swimmers racing in preliminary rounds to reach the top 16. Another race pares the field to eight,...