Guyanese swimmers Andrew Fowler and Leon Seaton Jr. registered new Personal Best times at the FINA World Championships in Gwangju, South Korea. Gwangju is 13 hours ahead of Guyana.
Fowler swam the 100m freestyle and clocked 54.72 seconds to finish third in his heat and clock a new best in the event on Wednesday.
However, he was still unable to move unto to the semi-finals. His previous best was 56.33s. He still has the 50m freestyle to compete.
Fifteen-year-old Seaton, who is the second youngest swimmer at the event, clocked 28.54s in his 50m Butterfly, to erase his previous best of 28.73s. He finished second, but his time was 77th out of a list of 94. The 50m Backstroke, which is slated for July 27, will be his final event.
Coach of the contingent, Sean Baksh, stated he is proud of both swimmers, given the magnitude of the occasion.
“He [Andrew] dropped almost two seconds from his previous time, which was done at the Commonwealth Games last year. He swam really well; he was off the blocks a little slow but he made up the distance by turning first and holding on for the third. I’m very pleased with his performance,” the coach related to News Room Sport Wednesday.
Baksh added: “Leon also swam well and the exposure at this level is going to be very beneficial to him. He is the second youngest swimmer here by a few months and he has risen to the occasion by making a PB [Personal Best] and not letting the big games factor get into his head.”
The other Guyanese at the event is Olympian Jamila Sanmoogan, who will compete in the 50m Freestyle and Butterfly.
All three swimmers had indicated to News Room Sport prior to departure that achieving better times in their events will be paramount as they look to qualify for the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo.
