Lara van Niekerk stormed to victory in her 50m breaststroke semifinal in Budapest on Friday night to book a spot in her first-ever World Championships final.
The 19-year-old once again dipped under 30 seconds, winning her semifinal in 29.99, qualifying third-fastest for the final. The only swimmers quicker were Italian world record-holder Benedetta Pilato, who won the other semifinal in 29.83, and former world record-holder Ruta Meilutyte, who finished second in 29.97.
On competing in her first international final at senior level, the Pretoria teen added: “I think I’m just going to go out there and enjoy it, not let the pressure get to me and just see what I can do.” Adding what the ultimate goal is, Da Ponte said: “Obviously a gold medal. Being a world champion, besides the Olympics, is the pinnacle for any athlete. But I would be happy for her to just medal.”
“Obviously I’m quite disappointed after coming so close to being in that final,” the Durban swimmer said.
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