Mireia Belmonte Misses 200 IM Semis On Opening Day In Gwangju

2019 FINA WORLD AQUATICS CHAMPIONSHIPS

• All sports: Friday, July 12 – Sunday, July 28, 2019
• Pool swimming: Sunday, July 21 – Sunday, July 28, 2019
• The Nambu University Municipal Aquatics Center, Gwangju, Korea
• Meet site
• FinaTV Live Stream
• Live results
• Day 1 prelims start lists

Four-time Olympic medalist Mireia Belmonte had a disappointing start to her World Championship campaign today in Gwangju, failing to advance out of the preliminaries of the women’s 200 IM.

The Spaniard placed 21st overall in a time of 2:14.93, over five seconds off her best of 2:09.45 from 2013.

Belmonte has a long history of battling injuries, including dealing with a nagging shoulder issue for several years. Recently, she withdrew from last summer’s European Championships due to health concerns that included bouts of dizziness, and then back in November it was revealed she was battling an ankle injury.

However, it was announced in February that she was back training in full force.

It isn’t a massive surprise to see the 28-year-old miss the semis in this event, as she did the same thing at the 2017 Championships, and was 16th in the event in Rio. It is worth noting, though, that her time was just over a second faster in Budapest (2:13.82).

She went on to have a successful showing there with three medals, including a gold in the 200 fly.

Belmonte is also slated to compete in the women’s 400 freestyle later this session, and also has entries in the 800 free, 1500 free, 200 fly and 400 IM later on in the competition.

Katinka Hosszu was the top qualifier in a time of 2:07.02, less than a second outside of her world record (2:06.12).