Carter misses spot in 100m fly final at World Champs

TRINIDAD AND Tobago swimmer Dylan Carter just missed a spot in the final of the men’s 100-metre butterfly event at the 15th FINA World Swimming Championships 2021 in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, on Friday.

Carter clocked 49.87 seconds, a new personal best and national record, swimming in semifinal one and aiming for a place in the final. He had the ninth fastest time and missed out on one of the eight spots in the final.

Carter’s time was enough for a sixth-place finish in semifinal one, but only the top five qualified for the final from what was the faster semifinal.

Italian Matteo Rivolta won in 49.07, Jakub Majerski of Poland was second in 49.65 and Simon Bucher of Austria ended third in 49.70.

American Tom Shields (49.76) and Andrei Minakov of the Russian Swimming Federation (49.79) claimed the last two spots in the final.

In semifinal two, South African Chad Le Clos won in 49.56 to book his place in the final.

Youssef Ramadan of Egypt was second in 49.60 and Noe Ponti of Switzerland also sealed a spot in the final after touching the wall in 49.62.

In the heats, Carter won heat five in 50.22 to book a place in the semifinal. Nikola Miljenic was the other athlete to advance in heat five with a second place finish in 50.23.

The final is scheduled for 11.02 am on Saturday.

Also on Saturday, TT women’s swimmer Cherelle Thompson will start competing when she lines up in the women’s 50m butterfly heats from 1.43 am.

Carter returns to the pool in the men’s 50m freestyle heats from 2.26 am on Saturday, before participating in the men’s 50m butterfly heats from 1.52 am on Sunday.