Dylan Carter bags 50m fly silver at FINA World Champs

DYLAN Carter, 25, captured silver in the men’s 50m butterfly at the 15th FINA World Swimming Championships in Abu Dhabi, the United Arab Emirates on Monday.

At the Etihad Arena, Carter touched the wall in a national record time of 21.98 seconds to capture TT’s first medal at this year’s meet. Winning gold was Brazilian Nicholas Santos in 21.93s. Italian Matteo Rivolta earned bronze in 22.02s.

Carter’s performance in the final also bettered his previously set national record of 22.18s which he achieved in the semi-final on Sunday.

The 50m fly silver is Carter’s second World Championships medal in this event having secured bronze at the 2018 edition in China.

Earlier on Monday, Carter withdrew from the men’s 100m freestyle heat to focus on the 50m butterfly final.

Tokyo Olympian Cherelle Thompson finished 37th in the women’s 50m freestyle and did not advance to the semi-final round.

TT’s Nikoli Blackman, 16, was 28th overall in the men’s 1500m freestyle, clocking sixteen minutes, 34.53 seconds.

Winning this event was Ukranian Mykhallo Romanchuk (14:24.76) while Tunisian Ahmed Hafnaoui (14:25.77) and German Florian Wellbrock (14:25.79) rounded off the top three.

Minister of Sport and Community Development Shamfa Cudjoe sent congratulations to the two-time Olympian Carter on his recent success. Cudjoe said, “Carter’s stellar performances and success at the championships were phenomenal. It is a testament of resilience, hard work and determination.

“Despite challenges posed by the pandemic, our sportsmen and sportswomen continue to be committed and relentless in their pursuit of excellence. They have given us a national record-breaking year in sport.

“The government continues to make significant investments in supporting our athletes, developing our sporting infrastructure and improving our technical capacity.”

On Friday, Carter also shattered the national men’s 100m butterfly record after clocking 49.87s in the heats. However, he placed sixth in the heat, ninth overall and just missed out on qualifying for the 100m final.

Carter has been in stellar form post-Tokyo Olympics, having won 23 medals and helping his London Roar team to third place overall at the International Swimming League which concluded in Holland in early December.

The World Championships was his final meet of the season. The TT swimmer plans to return home for the holidays and take a much-needed break from top-flight competition.

Carter intends to resume training in January. According to how he feels mentally and physically, he may register for the World Long Course Championships in May 2022.

This story was originally published with the title "Dylan Carter bags 50m fly silver at FINA World Champs" and has been adjusted to include additional details. See original post below.

Dylan Carter, 25, captured silver in the men’s 50m butterfly at the 15th FINA World Swimming Championships in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates on Monday.

At the Etihad Arena, Carter touched the wall in a national record time of 21.98 seconds to capture TT’s first medal at this year’s meet. Winning gold was Brazilian Nicholas Santos in 21.93s. Italian Matteo Rivolta earned bronze in 22.02s.

The 50m fly silver is Carter's second World Championships medal in this event having secured bronze at the 2018 edition in China.

Earlier on Monday, Carter withdrew from the men’s 100m freestyle heat to focus on the 50m butterfly final.

Tokyo Olympian Cherelle Thompson finished 37th in the women’s 50m freestyle and did not to advance to the semi-final round.

TT's Nikoli Blackman, 16, was 28th overall in the men’s 1500m freestyle, clocking sixteen minutes, 34.53 seconds.