Kenya's mixed relays team makes history in Birmingham
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines' Shane Cadogan competes in the men's 50m butterfly heats swimming event at the Sandwell Aquatics Centre, on day one of the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, central England, on July 29, 2022.
What you need to know:
- Just moments after competing in the women's 100m butterfly, Imara Bella Thorpe and Emily Muteti partnered with Ridhwan Abubakar and Maina Monyo to put the country in their maiden final at the “Club” Games.
- Kenya clocked three minutes and 45.36 seconds to finish second in the first heat won by Singapore to sail through. Singapore triumphed in 3:33.71.
In Birmingham
Kenya’s mixed 4x100 metres relay team has made history at the ongoing Commonwealth Games swimming competition at Sandwell Aquatics Centre, Birmingham.
Just moments after competing in the women's 100m butterfly, Imara Bella Thorpe and Emily Muteti partnered with Ridhwan Abubakar and Maina Monyo to put the country in their maiden final at the “Club” Games.
Kenya clocked three minutes and 45.36 seconds to finish second in the first heat won by Singapore to sail through. Singapore triumphed in 3:33.71.
Hosts England claimed the second heat in 3:28.03, beating Wales and Scotland to second and third places in 3:29.66 and 3:31.09 respectively to all qualify.
Australia’s team won the third heat in the fastest qualifying time of 3:22.14 after seeing off Canada and Jersey in 3:28 and 3:42.92 respectively.
Kenya’s time placed them eighth overall heading into the final that was due for 12.15am on Saturday.
“It feels good to qualify for the final since it doesn’t happen all the time. We have an experienced side and we can only wait to see what happens in the final,” said the team captain Muteti.
Muteti also hopes that the performance will inspire them through the rest of the championships.
“It was tough for the swimmers but they dug in well to swim their hearts out. Muteti and Thorpe went straight to the event after their events,” said head coach Mansoor Fakhry. “We can only hope for the best in the final.”
Earlier Abubakar, Thorpe and Muteti had failed to sail through to the semi-finals of their respective events.
Abubakar finished fifth in his 50m butterfly heat in personal best 25.92 in the heats where Australia’s Kyle Chalmers posted the fastest time of 23.45.
Thorpe won the first heat in 1:02.16 in 100m butterfly with Muteti settling fourth in the eighth heat of the same event but all failed to qualify for the semi-finals.
Emma McKeon from Australia led the pack in qualifying for the semi-finals with the fastest time of 57.34.
