Fowler, Seaton end campaigns today

TODAY, the Guyanese pair of Andrew Fowler and Leon Seaton wrap up their campaigns at the CONSANAT South American Swimming and Diving Championships which got underway on Tuesday in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Their third and final event will be the Men’s 50m Butterfly, after they participated in the 50m and 100m Freestyle earlier in the week. The locals first competed in the Men’s 100m freestyle but failed to improve on their timings as they seek to qualify for the Olympic Games in Tokyo, Japan. Seaton turned in a time of 56.05s while Fowler stopped the clock at 56.33s. Prior to the race, Seaton entered with a seed of 55.27s while Fowler’s best time was 54.10s. However, none of those times were sufficient enough to hit the Olympic Standard for the event which is set at 48.57s.

In that race, Venezuelan’s Quintero Valero won in a time of 49.57s ahead of Brazil’s Peixoto Martins (49.70s) and Valero’s teammate, Mestre Vivas, who was third with a time of 49.82s. The race which had 25 competitors saw Seaton and Fowler finish in 23rd and 24th, respectively. Their second event was the 50m Freestyle which was won by Argentine Rober Strelkov in a time of 24.39s while Brazilians Melo Baganha (25.54s) and Dias Perseguin (24.55s) were second and third. In that race, Fowler stopped the clock at 27.48s while Seaton swam a time of 28.62s, both failing to beat their seeds of 26.45s and 28.41s; another performance that place them in the cellar position. The qualifying standard for the 50m Freestyle is a staggering 22.01s. Meanwhile, the qualifying standard for the 50m Butterfly in 51.96s. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has set the deadline for qualification to the games at May 30, 2021.