After Fukuoka last year, the Arkadios Aspougalis managed to qualify for the semi-finals of the World Swimming Championships in 50m anterior and in Doha.
The athlete from Neos Iraklis recorded a time of 27.62 in the qualifying event, ranked 16th and passed, even narrowly, to the semi-finals, which will take place at 18:34. In order to succeed, in fact, he left the Turkish Emre Saktsi, twice “silver” in the European Championship of 25-person pool, one place behind him.
The best performance of the qualifiers with 26.66 was recorded by the American Nick Fink (winner yesterday in the 100m breaststroke) and the Belarusian Ilya Shimanovich, who is participating in the games as a neutral. Three-time world champion, Britain’s Adam Peaty, finished just 12th in 27.23.
“The truth is, I haven’t worked as hard on the 50m this year as I have on the 100m relay. I can’t say I’m happy with the morning time and I think I could have gone faster. I don’t know what went wrong and I haven’t spoken to my coach yet. In the afternoon I will be more clear minded and forget what has happened now, and since we have a course to swim in the afternoon there is a chance that I will enter the final“, emphasized Asprugalis after his match.
“The goal is to do the best I can. If I can catch my individual record from last year good and if the final comes again good. Of course I want to break the Panhellenic record (27.20, Dimitris Xynadas from 2009). It is a very fast time and so fast we have many years to swim. Obviously I want to take it down but one by one. I don’t tell myself I have to knock it down now, but it will come“, he added.
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