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Ellina Mhlanga Senior Sports Reporter
ZIMBABWE’S Liam Davis missed out on the men’s 100m breaststroke semi-finals at the ongoing 15th FINA World Swimming Championships (25m) 2021 in Abu Dhabi yesterday as he could not make the top 16 that qualified from the heats.
The fastest 16 swimmers across the seven heats in the 100m breaststroke event qualified for the semi-finals that were set for later in the day yesterday.
The final is set for today.
Swimming in lane three, Davis came fourth in 1 minute 03.29 seconds in heat two of the seven heats. His personal best time in the event is 1 minute 01.98 seconds and he could not surpass the time yesterday.
He came fourth behind Jaden Wuilliez from Antigua and Barbuda, who was the first to hit the wall in 58.73 seconds, followed by Kledi Kadiu of Albania in 1 minute 01.34 seconds.
On third place was Costa Rica’s Arnoldo Herrera in 1 minute 02.24 seconds.
However, their times were slow and Davis’ performance in the heat saw him ranked 46 out of 57. And Wuilliez, who came first, was ranked 24. Davis, who is based in the UK, is Zimbabwe’s sole representative at the championships after the other three members that were expected to make up the team failed to travel due to travel bans.
He is competing in two events and with the 100m breaststroke done, he will be back in the pool tomorrow for the 200m breaststroke, which is his main event.
Davis will be hoping for a change of fortunes tomorrow. His personal best in the 200m breaststroke event is 2 minutes 13.54 seconds.
The 21-year-old has represented the country at various levels. He was part of the team that took part in the 2018 Youth Olympic Games in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
In the same year, he also competed in this same world event as well.
As a junior, he represented Zimbabwe in the Junior World Swimming Championships, Africa Junior Championships, African Union Sports Council Region Five Youth Games and CANA Zone IV Championships.
Online Reporter