Waddell gives Team SA hope of 50m backstroke medal | Sport

27 Jul 2019

Zane Waddell (Gallo Images)

Cape Town - South Africa's Zane Waddell has qualified for the final of the men's 50m backstroke at the 2019 FINA World Championships in Gwangju, South Korea.

Swimming out of Lane 5 in the first semi-final on Saturday, Waddell touched the wall in third place (24.72), behind Russian winner Evgeny Rylov (24.56) and American Ryan Murphy (24.64).

When all was said and done, Waddell's time wound up as the fifth-fastest and booked him Lane 2 in Sunday's final at 13:02 SA time.

Russia's Kliment Kolesnikov led the way with a quick 24.35 in the second semi-final and will be the man to beat in the splash-and-dash final.

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