Barbadian swimmer Alex Sobers bowed out of the men’s 400 metres freestyle preliminaries after placing seventh in heat two this morning at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.
He finished in a time of three minutes 56.14 seconds, three seconds slower this his personal best and national record time of 3:53.19 seconds. Eventual victor Alfonso Mestre of Venezuela clocked 3:47.14 and behind him was Slovenia’s Martin Bau who was timed at 3:52.56.
Sobers, competing in lane eight, had a good start to the race and kept pace well for the first 100 metres, but the quality of the rest of the field shone through, especially in the last 200 metres.
Unfortunately, none of the competitors in his heat advanced to tomorrow’s final with the fastest heat time of three minutes 43.67 seconds belonging to 24-year-old German Henning Bennet Muhlleitner who competed in the fourth heat.
Second fastest overall and second in that heat was Felix Auböck of Austria who finished just behind Muhlleitner in a time of 3:43.91 seconds.
The 22-year-old Sobers, who is the national record holder in both the 200 and 400 metres freestyle, has another opportunity to claim Barbados’ first Olympic medal in swimming when he suits up for the heats of the men’s 200 metres freestyle tomorrow morning.
Prior to his heat, fellow swimmer Danielle Titus will contest the preliminary round of the women’s 100 metres backstroke. (NM)