World Championships: Michael Andrew Posts Successful Double With Silver in 50 Free, Fourth in 100 Fly

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Michael Andrew -- Photo Courtesy: Andrea Staccioli / Deepbluemedia / Insidefoto

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World Championships: Michael Andrew Posts Successful Double With Silver in 50 Free, Fourth in 100 Fly

The week at the World Championships got off to a shaky start for 23-year-old American Michael Andrew as he missed the final in the men’s 100 breaststroke, an event where he is the fourth-fastest performer in history. Andrew also competed in semifinals of the 50 butterfly that day, but his attempt at two events backfired, and he lost out on a medal chance in one of his best events.

But since then, Andrew has performed well in his various events in Budapest. He earned a bronze medal in the 50 fly final and another bronze in the 50 breast final, and he also got a gold medal by virtue of his butterfly leg in the prelims of the mixed 400 medley relay. Andrew faced another double on day six with semifinals of both the 100 fly and 50 free, but this time, he navigated the back-to-back successfully by qualifying for both finals. That set up a massively successful Friday finals session for Andrew, when he captured silver in the 50 free, just nine hundredths behind gold medalist Ben Proud, and then, just a half-hour later, Andrew finished fourth in the 100 fly.

Andrew’s 50 free silver medal was his best result at any major long course international meet, but his 100 fly was another extremely successful result, even though he ended up just off the podium. His time of 51.11 was just off his top mark of 50.88 from the U.S. International Team Trials. The United States’ coaching staff will be plenty pleased with the results because of the implications for Saturday’s 400 medley relay. With Caeleb Dressel absent from the second half of the World Championships, Andrew is the likely choice to swim the butterfly leg for the U.S. men, and his successful 100 fly performance will lessen any chances of the coaching staff turning to a different swimmer, such as Shaine Casas or Trenton Julian, to handle that relay leg.

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