World Champs, Day 6 Evening Session: Miatke Leads Wide-Open Field into Final of 50 Butterfly

By John Lohn

MONTREAL, Canada, July 29. THE makeup of the women’s 50-meter butterfly final is intriguing, as no clear-cut favorite emerged during Friday night’s semifinals. Australia’s Danni Miatke took down the top time of the session, as she hit the wall in 26.30. She was followed in second place by Austria’s Fabienne Nadarajah, who registered a mark of 26.51.

The world-record holder from Sweden, Anna-Karin Kammerling is not swimming close to her global standard of 25.57, but she’ll be in the mix during the final. Kammerling popped a time of 26.71 and placed ahead of the Netherlands’ Inge Dekker, who covered the one-lap sprint in 26.87. Germany’s Antje Buschschulte, already a double-medalist in two backstroke events, was fifth in 26.91.

American Natalie Coughlin tied Buschschulte for the fifth-fastest time, and that swim arrived after Coughlin earned a tie for the silver medal in the 100 freestyle earlier in the night. Coughlin was followed by Sweden’s Therese Alshammar (26.98) and New Zealand’s Elizabeth Coster was the final qualifier for the championship heat, behind a time of 27.10.

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