… places second in his heat

By Daniel Haynes

THE first of Guyana’s two-man swim contingent, Hannibal David Gaskin, finished second in his 100m butterfly heat in the 2016 Rio Olympic Games. In the process he has made Guyana proud despite not going forward to the semi-finals. Gaskin finished with a time of 58.57, taking down his previous personal best of 59.98 going into the games. The swimmer, who is in the Guyana Olympic squad based on FINA’s universality place rules, may have also set a new national record.
The ‘old’ (long-course) national record was also Gaskin’s previous personal best, one he achieved after he broke Niall Roberts’ 2009 time of 1:00:02 earlier this year in Paraguay.
According to Gaskin’s coach Stephanie Fraser who was watching the race, the athlete did not swim his best race.
“He had a shaky start and when you have a bad start it affects your entire race,” Fraser stated.
In an interview with a reporter at the Olympics, Gaskin admitted he did not swim the race he had wanted to.
“I drifted away from my game plan, my mind was a bit clouded,” stated Gaskin.
Gaskin also commented on being the flag-bearer during the Olympic opening eremony, stating it was a life-changing experience.
Also proud is the Guyana Amateur Swimming Association (GASA), which expressed sentiments of pride in the swimmer.
“We are happy to see that Hannibal has surpassed his personal best and is making strides forward,” stated GASA president Ivan Persaud.
The GASA president in an earlier encounter had stated that it was expected that Gaskin would set a new personal best.
All eyes are now on Jamila Sanmoogan, the second of Guyana’s two swimmers as she competes today at 12:02hrs. Her event is the 50m freestyle. Sanmoogan, like Hannibal, will have expectations of a new personal best.
The swimmer enters the heat with a time of 28.60 seconds, and will be swimming in lane 7 of heat 5.