Jerard Jacinto registered another personal mark in the men’s 50-meter backstroke to close out his FINA World Swimming Championships (25m) debut, Saturday at the Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi, UAE.
The Texas A&M sophomore once more ended in second place in his heat and landed in a tie at 26th overall among 51 competitors.
The result would not see him through to the semifinals as only the 15 fastest swimmers progressed. Nonetheless, it was a solid performance from Jacinto.
Jacinto was one of the first ones from the wall and never looked back, but his Aggie teammate in USA’s Shaine Casas slowly pulled away from the pack at the turn.
Eventually, Casas — the 100-meter champion — won the heat with 23.33 seconds, which is 1.17 seconds faster than the Filipino’s 24.40.
On the other hand, Jasmine Alkhaldi finished the heats of the women’s 50-meter butterfly in 33rd place with 27.56 seconds. The 28-year-old finished in sixth place in her heat, just 0.57 off the winner in Hong Kong’s Kin Lok Chak.
Completing the day for the Philippine squad was Sebastian Cook who ended overall. The first-time SC Worlds campaigner touched the wall with 2:09.40, which is good for a 21st place finish out of the 38 competitors.
