Guyana’s swimmer Andrew Fowler on Tuesday morning (local time 06:00 hours) tasted action for the first time at the Tokyo Olympics, placing fourth in the first heat of the men’s 100m freestyle at the Tokyo Aquatics Centre.
His time: 55.23 seconds, well off his entry time of 54.10.
Drawn in lane four, Fowler, a cop in the Guyana Police Force, finished behind Nepal’s Alexander Shah who won the heat in 53.41 seconds; Olt Kondirolli of Kosovo, second in 54.33; and YazanAl Bawwab Al of Palestine, third in 54.51.
Shah had the fastest reaction time of 0.59 seconds (the fastest start) which no doubt assisted his victory.
Fowler’s reaction time was 0.64 — the same reaction time as Richardson Edgar Iro of Solom Islands, who finished last in 1 minutes and 13 seconds.
Fowler’s race was the first of nine heats with the top 16 progressing to the semi-finals. As such, his fourth-place finish is not enough to advance him.
The 25-year-old Fowler was the flag bearer for Guyana during the Games’ opening ceremony along with table tennis star Chelsea Edghill.
Meanwhile, Guyana’s other swimmer, Aleka Persaud, is scheduled to compete on Friday, July 30 in heat four of the women’s 50m freestyle at the Tokyo Aquatics Centre.
The race is scheduled to start at 19:30 hours (6:30 a.m. Guyana time)
Persaud is drawn in lane four with an entry time of 28.10 seconds — the fastest among the entrants.
The 15-year-old is the youngest member of Guyana’s Olympic Games team.
She won gold for Guyana in the girls 11-12 butterfly at the 2019 CARIFTA Swimming Championships in Barbados.
FULL LINE-UP
Lane 1 – Angelika Ouedraogo, Burkina Faso (country), 29.52 (entry time)
Lane 2 – Alicia Mateus, Mozambique, 29.42
Lane 3 – Malia Noelani Day, Tonga, 28.67
Lane 4 – ALEKA PERSAUD, GUYANA, 28.10
Lane 5 – Judith Meauri, Papua New Guinea, 28.24
Lane 6 – Mya de Freitas, St. Vincent, 29.34
Lane 7 – Noor Abdulla Yusuf, Baharain, 29.42
Lane 8 – Jessica Makwenda, Malawi, 29.64
