Frenchman Mehdy Metella Scratches 50 Fly Semi-Finals on Monday

2018 LEN EUROPEAN AQUATICS CHAMPIONSHIPS

• August 3-9, 2018 (swimming portion)
• Glasgow, Scotland
• Tollcross International Swimming Centre
• Meet Central
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• Live Results
• Live Stream
• Live Stream (Europe w/ English commentary)
• Full Results

Frenchman Mehdy Metella, who was the 15th qualifier through in the 50 fly in 23.72 on Monday morning, has scratched out of the semi-finals.

His was the only scratch through to events being held in Monday’s afternoon session.

Metella has no other swims on Monday, with France opting not to race in the mixed 400 medley (they would have been strong medal contenders). He entered the meet with 3 individual entries, in the 50 fly, the 100 fly, and the 100 free. Heats of the 100 fly will begin on Wednesday morning, while Metella has already captured a bronze medal in the 100 free (an event where he was seeded first entering the meet).

His swims have been mostly short of his best times. For example, in the 100 free final, he missed his seed by 6-tenths of a second. His best time in the 50 fly is 23.58 – .14 seconds faster than he was on Monday morning. Metella’s comments after the 100 free final indicated that he didn’t feel like he was in top shape for the meet.

Other Notes Heading into Monday’s Finals:

• Hungary’s mixed 400 medley relay, which included Dominik Kozma on the anchor, was disqualified in prelims. They probably would have been out of the final anyway.
• Metella’s scratch created a 3-way tie for the last spot in the men’s 50 fly semi-finals. Jessie Puts of the Netherlands was the 3rd swimmer from his country, so he was cut, leaving Sergii Shevtsov of the Ukraine and Nikita Korolev of  Russia to race for 16th. Both swimmers were much faster than the 23.81s that they swam in prelims, and Shevtsov wound up winning the rematch 23.45 to 23.60. Shevtsov’s swim-off time tied as the 5th-best swim in the morning heats, with a top 3 spot requiring only 23.40. Andriy Govorov and Ben Proud are overwhelming favorites for a top 3 spot, but the bronze medal battle is wide open.
• In the other prelims swim-off, Nandor Nemeth beat Robin Hanson in a 200 free swim-off, 1:49.55 to 1:50.51. The pair are 18 and 17, respectively.