T&T swimmer Dylan Carter splashed to a silver medal on Friday in the 50 metres butterfly final at the Federation France Swimming International FFN Camille Muffat Golden Tour Meeting De Nice in France, thereby sending a strong signal ahead of this year's Olympic Games.
The result did not come as a surprise for the T&T swimmer who was last year voted the 2020 T&T Olympic Committee Sportsman of the Year, considering his string of impressive performances in the earlier heats.
Competing for Team Elite Aquatics in his first event in France in the men’s 50m butterfly, Carter won the fifth and final heat in 24.13 seconds, swimming from lane four, for the third-fastest time overall ahead of the A-Final.
Second in the heat was Thomas Piron (24.45), followed by Holland’s Thom De Boer (24.46), Meven Grandjean (24.54) and Clement Secchi (24.59), all of whom qualified for the A-final.
Enzo Tesic (25.15) who was sixth and Louis Godefroid (25.44) in seventh also sealed berths in the final.
In the final, however, Carter did not disappoint, sprinting to a quick 24.07 seconds for the silver medal. The T&T swimmer also received a decent 792 points. The event was won by France Maxime Grousset in a lightning-quick time of 23.38 seconds and a total of 864 points, while Serjual Comte, another French swimmer, was third in 24.17 seconds.
Julien Berol of France was fourth in 24.22 seconds and Thorn De Boer of Netherlands was fifth with a similar 24.22-seconds time.
Earlier, Grousset who topped the field in 23.31 by winning heat four was the top qualifier ahead of Holland’s Thomas Verhoeven who clocked the second-best qualification time of 24.06.
The pair of Serguei Comte (24.35) and Julien Berol (24.38) completed the list of A-final qualifiers after they claimed the top two spots in heat three, but fourth and fifth-best overall respectively.
Carter, a former University of Southern California Trojans standout, Carter also mounted a challenge for a podium finish in the 100m backstroke event.
Carter will return to the pool this morning (Saturday), for heat two of three in the men’s 50m backstroke conterst from lane four against Holland’s Mathys Goosen, Christou, Maximillien Hugot and Pierre Cardot.
He will also face the starter agains today in the men’s 100m freestyle test in the second and final heat from lane four, inwhich he will come up against Christou, Charles Rihoux, Hungarian Kristof Milak, Grousset, Berol, NilsLiess and Guillaume Guth.
On Sunday, he competes in the third of four 50m freestyle heats with Goroco Koindredi, George Phantsulaya, Holland’s Kyle Stolk and Thom De Boer, Souhail Hamouchane, Cardot and Yanis Dutel.
