Matthew Sates' lingering slump extends to 200m individual medley at world champs
The South African was once a hot prospect, tipped as the heir apparent to Chad Le Clos. In early 2022 he lifted a coveted NCAA title during a brief stint as a student in the US and the year before he won top male swimmer of the short-course World Cup series.
However, he has been off the boil for three years.
Sates raced in the final 200m individual medley heat on Wednesday, which contributed seven of the 16 semifinal contenders, topped by French Olympic superstar Leon Marchand, who clocked 1min 57.63sec.
However, the 22-year-old ended a distant ninth in 2:01.80, which ranked him 28th overall.
He was well outside the 1:57.43 South African record he set in May 2022.
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