Frustration for Fifers at World Swimming Championships

It might have been his first World Swimming Championships but Mark Szaranek arrived in Budapest on a mission, so there was frustration as he missed out on the final of the 200m individual medley.
By The Newsroom
Published 27th Jul 2017, 17:29 BST
Updated 12th Sep 2017, 11:50 BST
Mark SzaranekMark Szaranek
Mark Szaranek

The 21-year-old from Glenrothes was seeded 11th coming into the event at the Duna Arena, and after progressing through to the semi-finals, that was the position he ended up.

His time of 1:58.80 was four tenths off the one he had set at the British Championships in April, but although it would have needed a personal best to make the final, he was still frustrated at falling short.

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“I’m disappointed not to make the final,” said the former Auchmuty High pupil, who will go again in the 400m medley on Sunday.

“It was good and faster than in the morning but unfortunately it wasn’t quite enough.

“You can’t come into a meet with any doubts about your ability and I thought I was good enough to make the final. But I guess this time around it didn’t happen.

“I can’t tell exactly what it was, I need to sit down with my coach and see the race and see what went wrong so I know what to improve on for the future.

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“It was fun out there but I’m just disappointed that I didn’t have enough for the final.”

Earlier in the day fellow Stirling swimmer Kathleen Dawson went in the heats of the 50m backstroke the morning after finishing eighth in her maiden World Championship final over the longer 100m distance.

There was to be no repeat progression through the rounds though as the Kirkcaldy-born 19-year-old could only finish joint 19th fastest overall in 28.42 seconds.

“I’m a bit disappointed with that. You’ve got to live and learn really,” she said, after missing out on the semi-finals by two tenths of a second.

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“I’m not really sure what happened there. I didn’t feel myself coming into that race this morning, I felt pretty tired.

“But I’m not going to use that as an excuse for how I performed.”

You can help the next generation of young British swimmers by getting involved in SportsAid Week this September with five-time Paralympic champion Ellie Simmonds OBE.

Find out more about how you can support the week of fun and fundraising by visiting www.sportsaid.org.uk/sportsaidweek.

Related topics:Kathleen DawsonGlenrothes