Boyer gets PBT in Hungary

David Boyer will race in the 100m butterfly event of the 17th FINA World Championships today in Budapest, Hungary. (Roselyn B. Monroyo)

David Boyer had a notable debut in the 17th FINA World Championships after earning a personal best time in the 100m freestyle race last Wednesday in Budapest, Hungary.

The CNMI swimmer clocked in at 1:01.18 in the preliminaries of the 100m freestyle event at the Dagály Swimming Complex to surpass his old PBT of 1:01.47. Boyer was on Heat 4 of qualifying races and defeated Benin’s Jefferson Kpanou (1:10.40) and Afghanistan’s Hamid Rahim (1:16.81) in the group. The Saipan Swim Club member’s time was also faster than Maldives’ Ismail Muthasim Adnan (1:01.68), Togo’s K. Amegashie (1:11.13), and the Marshall Islands’ Philip Kinono (1:12.94).

Uruguay’s Enzo Martinez won Heat 4 with his 51.39 seconds, while Australia’s Cameron Mcevoy posted the best time in the preliminaries after logging 47.97 seconds. The Australian also advanced to the medal round, but dropped to fourth in the semis, which France’s Mehy Metella topped after checking in at 47.65 seconds against the former’s 47.95 seconds. The medal race was scheduled yesterday evening and results were unavailable at press time. More than 1,000 swimmers joined the 100m freestyle event and they were divided into 12 heats.

After completing his first event in the tournament, Boyer will have his second and last today when he joins the qualifiers in the 100m butterfly event. The Commonwealth is on Heat 2, Lane 7 and hopes to get a better time than his PBT of 1:06.54. Boyer will be racing against Saint Vincent and Grenadines’ Gooding Dillon, Nigeria’s Ifeakachuku Nmor, Honduras’ George Jabbour, Thailand’s Jeerakit Soammanus, Malta’s Mikhail Umnov, Mali’s Oumar Toure, Guyana’s Hannibal David Gaskin, and Swaziland’s Simanga Dlamini. There are eight qualifying heats in the 100m butterfly event.

Also set to compete in his final event today is Christian Villlacrusis, who will participate in the 50m freestyle qualifier. The 17-year-old swimmer is on Heat 3 and aims to make his second PBT. He got his first via the 100m breaststroke event last Sunday after registering 1:16.70. The time to beat for Villacrusis is his 27.02 seconds recorded during the 69th Annual Keo Nakama Invitational held early this month.

Meanwhile, Jinju Thompson raced in the 100m freestyle qualifier yesterday evening. She was on Heat 1 and swam against Timor-Leste’s Imelda Ximenes Belo, Maldives’ Aminath Shajan, Armenia’s Ani Poghosyan, Mauritius’ Elodie Poo-Cheong, Nigaragua’s Gabriela Hernandez, Mongolia’s Enkhkhusien Batbayar, Rwanda’s Lidwine Umuhoza, North Korea’s Song Mi Pak, and Burundi’s Lena Irankunda. Results of the preliminary races in the 100m freestyle were unavailable at press time. Thompson’s PBT in the two-lap event is 1:10.66.