Former Olympic champion Chad le Clos was scratched from the 200m butterfly at the world championships in Doha on Tuesday morning. No problem, as Matthew Sates comfortably filled the huge void.
Sates advanced to the semifinals by finishing third in his heat in 1min 56.40sec to rank sixth overall.
The 16 fastest advanced to the evening semifinals where Sates will attempt to push through to Wednesday’s final.
Le Clos, a former two-time world champion in the 200m butterfly, has been placing more focus on the 100m races in butterfly and freestyle.
The 100m freestyle always clashes with the 200m butterfly. The heats are set for Wednesday morning with the evening semifinals less than 30 minutes before the 200m butterfly final.
The 100m butterfly, which Sates is also scheduled to swim, starts on Friday.
Earlier on Tuesday morning Duné Coetzee finished at the back of the field in the women’s 200m freestyle, touching in 2:01:02 for an overall ranking of 28th in the heats.
Her 1:59.05 personal best would have squeezed her into the top 16.
Swimming
Matthew Sates fills Chad le Clos’ gap as he advances in 200m butterfly
Image: Anton Geyser/Gallo Images
Former Olympic champion Chad le Clos was scratched from the 200m butterfly at the world championships in Doha on Tuesday morning. No problem, as Matthew Sates comfortably filled the huge void.
Sates advanced to the semifinals by finishing third in his heat in 1min 56.40sec to rank sixth overall.
The 16 fastest advanced to the evening semifinals where Sates will attempt to push through to Wednesday’s final.
Le Clos, a former two-time world champion in the 200m butterfly, has been placing more focus on the 100m races in butterfly and freestyle.
The 100m freestyle always clashes with the 200m butterfly. The heats are set for Wednesday morning with the evening semifinals less than 30 minutes before the 200m butterfly final.
The 100m butterfly, which Sates is also scheduled to swim, starts on Friday.
Earlier on Tuesday morning Duné Coetzee finished at the back of the field in the women’s 200m freestyle, touching in 2:01:02 for an overall ranking of 28th in the heats.
Her 1:59.05 personal best would have squeezed her into the top 16.
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