The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

JARED Fitzgerald, the only Bahamian in action at the 18th FINA World Championships in Gwangju, Korea, had to settle for ninth place in his heat of the men’s 100m freestyle.

The 21-year-old Tampa Spartans junior clocked 51.88 seconds, splitting his two 50m in 25.26 and 26.62. The performance enabled him to finish 71st overall.

Winning his heat was Alexei Sancov of Moldova in 50.05 for 46th place. The fastest qualifier was American Caeleb Dressel in 47.32. Dressel also took the top spot in the semi-final in 47.35. The final is set for today.

Also today, Margaret Albury Higgs will be swimming out of heat two in the preliminaries of the women’s breaststroke. The final is set for Friday.

In a preliminary event on Friday, Joanna Evans will contest the women’s 800m freestyle. The final will take place on Saturday.

Fitzgerald will also be back in action on Friday in the preliminaries of the boys’ 50m freestyle. If he advances, he will compete in the final on Saturday.

The only other member of the team is Izaak Bastian, who is done with his competition.

The week-long championships will close out on Sunday with the men and women 400 medleys and the 4 x 100m medley relays. The Bahamas will not compete in any of those events.