The Tribune

By RENALDO DORSET

Sports Reporter

rdorsett@tribunemedia.net

ARIEL Weech, the lone Bahamian in action on day four of the 16th FINA World Championships in Kazan, Russia, placed third in her heat of the women’s 50 metre backstroke at the Kazan Arena yesterday.

Weech clocked 30.77 seconds in the heat that was won by Naomi Ruele of Botswana. Weech finished 40th out of a field of 52 competitors.

It will be a busy day five for Team Bahamas with four of its five-member team in action today. Weech will return to the pool to contest the women’s 100m freestyle in the fifth of 10 heats.

And Elvis Burrows will compete in the heats of the men’s 50m freestyle in the eighth of 12 heats with a qualifying time of 23.24.

In addition, Arianna Vanderpool-Wallace will compete in the women’s 50m butterfly. She will swim the sixth of seven heats where she will attempt to improve on her qualifying time of 25.93. She holds the national record in the event at 25.53 set at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Scotland, last year.

Finally, Joanna Evans will also join the fray in the women’s 800m freestyle after she missed the 400m freestyle because of her late travel to Russia.

She will swim in the third of five heats where she has a personal best of 8:37.18, which she set as a national record at Pan Am.