Cameron McEvoy in agonising miss as Shayna Jack and Brianna Throssell do it again
Australia claimed another three silver medals at the swimming world championships, including one for teenager Jaclyn Barclay.
Australian have claimed another three silver medals at the swimming world championships, with Cameron McEvoy missing out on defending his 50m freestyle title by the barest of margins. The 29-year-old McEvoy, who became the oldest Australian to win an individual world title when he won the event last year, missed out just one-hundredth of a second on Saturday night.
McEvoy had been the red-hot favourite to defend his crown after qualifying as the fastest swimmer, but produced a slower time in the final than he'd swum in the heat and semi. After surging out quickest, the 29-year-old was chased down by 21-year-old Vladyslav Bukhov of Ukraine, who left the swimming world in disbelief with his upset victory.
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Bukhov was dead-last in the early stages, but roared back to touch the wall in 21.44sec, fractionally ahead of McEvoy (21.45) and Ben Proud of Great Britain (21.53). Swimming fans and commentators were blown away by the huge boilover, with Bukhov becoming the first Ukrainian to win a world title in the event.
"What an upset," one commentator said on the broadcast. "Vladyslav Bukhov has shocked the world. He came from nowhere off the blocks."
🇺🇦 Vladyslav Bukhov shock the commentators with his win in the Men’s 50m Freestyle 🤩 #AQUADoha2024 pic.twitter.com/gyfuczGbDA
— World Aquatics (@WorldAquatics) February 17, 2024
McEvoy had swum much faster in both his heat (21.13) and semi-final (21.23) on Friday, but couldn't re-produce the goods in the final. But after walking away with a silver and bronze (50m butterfly), the veteran was content with how he'd performed in Doha. "Of course I wanted the gold medal, and you always want to post good times so in that respect I am a little disappointed," he conceded.
"But my main goal for this meet was to come here and see how fast I can go. This is all part of the process and to accumulate data ahead of Paris … but if I was to tell my 2016 to 2022 year-old self that I would be standing here right now, just 0.01 off a second world title, I'd be super proud. The final was quicker than Fukuoka … so as an experience, this has been vital for my Paris preparation."
Aussies grab three more silver medals at world championships
The Dolphins have been left to contemplate a series of near-misses in Doha, with nine silvers and four bronze to go along with Sam Williamson's lone gold medal in the 50m breaststroke. Jaclyn Barclay claimed one of those silver medals in the 200m backstroke on Saturday, before Shayna Jack and Brianna Throssell won their fifth medals of the week when they teamed up with Kai Taylor and Jack Cartwright to finish second in the mixed 4x100m freestyle relay.
The silver for 17-year-old Barclay proved why she's being touted as a start of the future. Slashing nearly two seconds off her personal best, the world junior 100m backstroke champ clocked 2min 07.03sec to take the silver comfortably.
Claire Curzan of the United States, herself just 19 years old, was in a league of her own up ahead. The American clocked 2:05.77 to complete the same rare treble that Aussie Kaylee McKeown achieved in Fukuoka last year with the 50/100/200m crowns.
The Aussies were boosted by an electric third leg from Jack in the mixed relay, with the resurgent star moving them from third to second behind the triumphant Chinese team. It marks the 16th world championship medal for Jack in her career - just one fewer than Throssell's 17.
Jack can equal her teammate if she makes the podium in the 50m freestyle after qualifying fourth-fastest for the final. Sarah Sjostrom will be the favourite, with the 30-year-old from Sweden earlier becoming the second swimmer after Katie Ledecky in the 800 free to win six consecutive world titles at the same event. Sjostrom achieved the feat when she claimed the 50m butterfly crown in 24.63sec.
Australia has a red-hot chance of claiming a second gold of the meet, with Isaac Cooper qualifying fastest for the 50m backstroke final with an Oceanian record of 24.12sec - 0.31sec quicker than the next-best qualifier and the seventh fastest time in history. Cooper had earlier finished fifth in the 50m freestyle final.
with AAP
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