Taiko Torepe-Ormsby (Ngāi Tahu, Ngāti Maniapoto) narrowly missed qualification for the semifinals of the men’s 50 metres freestyle at the Paris Olympics on Friday (NZT).
New Zealand’s fastest-ever swimmer in the discipline was second-equal in his heat with Israel’s Martin Kartavi at Paris La Defense Arena, with a time of 22.01 seconds, behind Portugal’s Diogo Ribeiro who won in 21.91 seconds to advance to the semifinals.
The 16 fastest from the heats qualified for the semifinals, with Torepe-Ormsby 19th equal out of 74 swimmers.
The 20-year-old, who is based at Wisconsin University in the United States, was unable to match his 21.86 seconds personal best set at the New Zealand trials in April, which saw him become the first ever Kiwi athlete to swim under 22 seconds for the distance.
The Olympic final was won by Australia’s Cameron McEvoy who claimed the gold medal with a time of 21.25 seconds, from silver medal winner Ben Proud of Great Britain in 21.30 seconds, and France’s Florent Manaudou who secured the bronze medal in 21.56 seconds.
