TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO swimmer Nikoli Blackman was unable to advance to the men’s 400m freestyle final of the FINA World Swimming Championships (25 metres) in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates on Thursday.

Swimming out of lane six in heat two at the Etihad Arena, Blackman placed sixth in four minutes and 03.35 seconds (4:03.35). Only the top two swimmers from each of the four heats advanced to the final.

Although he did not progress to the medal round, Blackman established a new personal best time in this event by shaving over five seconds off his recent 4:09.15 clocking set at the Junior Pan American Games in Cali, Colombia last month.

Winning gold in the final was Austrian Felix Auboeck (3:37.91), silver went to American Kieran Smith (3:38.61) while Swiss athlete Antonio Djakovic (3:39.06) splashed to bronze.

Blackman competes once more on Sunday in the 1500m freestyle.

Meanwhile, TT returns to action on Saturday with two-time Olympian Dylan Carter facing the starter in the men’s 50m backstroke and 50m freestyle heats. He continues his Worlds quest on Sunday in the 50m butterfly heats and completes his stint on Monday, in the 100m freestyle heats.

TT’s lone female representative Cherelle Thompson gets her campaign under way on Saturday in the women’s 50m butterfly heats. She hits the pool once more on Monday in the 50m freestyle heats.

Additionally, national swimmer Ornella Walker, who was selected to compete at the championships, was forced to pull out after testing positive for covid19 last week.

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