After claiming a gold medal on night one as a member of the Women’s 4x100m Freestyle Relay, Emma McKeon has nabbed her second medal at the World Swimming Championships, securing bronze in the Women’s 100m Butterfly.
Clocking a time of 56.61 at the Nambu University Aquatics Centre in Gwangju, the 25-year-old finished behind silver medallist and current world record holder, Sweden’s Sarah Sjostrom (56.22), and Canadian teenager Margaret MacNeil (55.83) who took home the gold. Fellow Dolphin Brianna Throssell also made the final, with a new personal best time finishing fifth overall in 57.09.
Ever the competitor, McKeon said while it wasn’t her finest race, she was delighted with another podium finish.
“It probably wasn’t my best race but obviously I’m happy to make the podium and also really happy that another person is swimming 55 because it gives me a lot more motivation,” she said post-race.
“I guess we haven’t really had someone to obviously beat Sarah in a long time, just let alone get that close, it definitely makes me excited to get back into training and keep pushing for next year.
"I definitely think I can (swim 55s), the times I was swimming in training leading into this are a lot faster than what I got out of that race so I’m confident I can."
In one of the most exhilarating spectacles of the night, Clyde Lewis swum the race of his life in the Men’s 200m Freestyle semi-final to hit the wall first in a personal best – and impressive – time of 1:44.90. Making a huge statement from lane one, the 21-year-old made an extremely fast start and threw down the challenge for the rest of field to catch him. In the end he couldn’t be caught and will now head into tomorrow night’s final as the fastest qualifier. Kyle Chalmers’ time of 1:46.21 wasn’t enough to see him feature in the final.
Our Aussie women continue to shine on the world stage, with Minna Atherton smashing her personal best by 0.63 and swimming sub 59 seconds for the first time in her career to qualify second fastest for the Women’s 100m Backstroke final. Racing from lane four alongside the USA’s world record holder Kathleen Baker, the teenager had a terrific start, hit the turn first and managed to hold on in 58.60. Swimming in the second semi-final, fellow teammate Kaylee McKeown also recorded a personal best time of 59.13 to secure her place in tomorrow night’s showdown.
Swimming from lane five in the Men’s 100m Backstroke semi-final, Mitch Larkin has posted a time of 52.91 to qualify fifth for tomorrow night’s final. In a tight tussle for top spots, the 2015 world champ will have a challenge on his hands to chase down China’s Xu Jiayu who set a new championship record of 52.17 to earn prime position.
Victoria’s Jess Hansen clocked 1:06.98 in the Women’s 100m Breaststroke semi-final to place 10th overall, narrowly missing a place in Tuesday night’s final.
Tomorrow’s heats kick off at 11am (EDT), with finals starting at 9pm (EDT).
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