SHANGHAI — Kirsty Coventry has admitted she needs to “refocus” after missing the cut in the semi-finals of the 200m individual medley at the World Swimming Championships in Shanghai, China.
The 27-year-old Zimbabwean was a disappointing ninth with a time of 2:12,21secs. Australia’s Stephanie Rice had the best time in the semis, touching in on 2:09,65secs.
Chinese teenager Ye Shiwen, who came third in the semis, won gold in the final after clocking 2:8,90secs to beat Australia’s Alicia Coutts who claimed silver in 2:09,00Secs. Coutts came fourth in the semis with a time of 2:10,65secs.
The former world champion Ariana Kukors (United States), who was second in the semis, took bronze in 2:09,12secs.
Coventry, who won silver in the 2008 Olympics in the 200m Individual Medley (IM) with a time of 2:08,59secs, reflected on her semi-final disappointment in a message posted on Twitter.
“9th in the 200 IM. Not the time I wanted, but let’s see what the 200m backstroke and 400m IM bring,” she said.
In a later tweet, she added: “Using the next couple of days to refocus before my next race.”
Coventry’s disappointment is understandable — her time was more than three seconds out of her silver medal winning effort at the Beijing Olympics, which ironically would have won Monday’s race.
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Her decision to turn her focus to the 400m IM and 200m backstroke is based on form. She holds the Olympic record in the 200m backstroke with a time of 2:05,24secs which won her gold in Beijing, and she won silver in the 400m IM.
At the 2009 World Swimming Championships — the last major event she participated in — the Zimbabwean also took gold in the 200m backstroke and silver in the 400m IM.
