The top six were separated by just 0.21 of a second in a thrilling final.
South African breaststroke swimmer Chris Smith failed to medal in his first ever global long course final when he had to settle for sixth place in the final of the 50m breaststroke event at the World Aquatics Championships in Singapore on Wednesday.
In a tight and thrilling final, 19-year-old Smith was edged out in the one lap race where the top six were separated by just 0.21 of a second.
‘Next time I’ll try get on the podium’
He clocked a time of 26.75 seconds, which shaved a further two-hundredths of a second off the personal best he had set in the semi-finals on Tuesday.
It also places the Centurion swimmer just 0.21 of a second away from 2012 100m breaststroke Olympic champion Cameron van der Burgh’s national and continental record in the 50m event.
Though he won’t leave Singapore with a medal, Smith said he was still pleased with his effort.
“I’m super happy with how it went and everything. I still think that I can go a bit faster, but I just have to work on it. I just want to keep focused on my dive and my pull-out. I think those are the two main things where I lag behind a bit, but next time, definitely, I want to see if I can maybe get on the podium.”
Thursday’s action
In other events on Wednesday, Matt Sates and Olivia Nel were in action in individual heats. Sates finished 28th overall in the 200m individual medley in 2:01.80, while, after finishing sixth in her heat, Nel was 23rd overall in the 50m backstroke in 28.23 seconds, with neither making it through to the semifinals.
Fresh from his gold medal in the 100m backstroke on Tuesday, Pieter Coetzé led off the South African 4x100m mixed medley relay team of Kaylene Corbett, Erin Gallagher and Matthew Caldwell. They finished eighth in their heat and 18th overall in 3:52.03 to also miss out on the final.
Thursday’s programme in Singapore will see Coetzé returning to the pool for the heats of the 200m backstroke – the event in which he claimed bronze at last year’s world championships.
Gallagher will line up in the 100m freestyle, while Corbett and Rebecca Meder will take on the 200m breaststroke. The women’s 4x200m freestyle relay team of Aimee Canny, Georgia Nel, Hannah Robertson and Catherine van Rensburg will also be in action.
