Batchelor Just Misses out on 200m Backstroke World Final

Canterbury swimmer Sophia Batchelor battled ill-health to narrowly miss out on a finals berth at the FINA World Short Course Championships in Dubai.

The 15 year old was 11th fastest after heats of the 200m backstroke in 2:07.27 to be just outside the qualifying mark. Her best time of 2:05.52 would have comfortably secured a berth in the final with American Melissa Franklin topping qualifiers in 2:03.76.

Batchelor, the second youngest swimmer at the championships, made mistakes in her turns and was also battling a virus in her first venture to an open world championship.

“It was not the swim we were looking for,” said her Aqua Gym club coach Leanne Speechley. “She made some mistakes on the turns and has been suffering from the flu. Not that we are making any excuses at all today.

“It has been a massive learning curve and that’s why we are here in the first place. We have both learned more than you can imagine.

“We have a real gratitude to Swimming New Zealand for their support and for making this experience possible.

“We all know that Sophia is a huge prospect going forward. In the end there’s no price you can put on this sort of experience for her. She is a real little charger who has a huge future and her learnings from competing in a world class meet of this magnitude will be absolutely invaluable in the future.”

Batchelor, the only New Zealand swimmer to travel to Dubai, also missed out on qualifying in the 100m backstroke.