Feemke Heemskerk of the Netherlands skipped her 50m freestyle heat this morning where she was the 10th seed overall and slated to swim beside 100m freestyle champion Bronte Campbell.
Heemskerk’s best event is the 100m freestyle as opposed to the 50. At the 2013 World Championships, Heemskerk qualified for the semifinals in the 50m freestyle but failed to advance to the finals.
That was the only time Heemskerk had ever raced the 50m freestyle at a major international event such as the world championships or Olympic Games; this race was set to be her second major international appearance in the event.
The reasoning for Heemskerk’s absence in the 50m freestyle this morning could be due to the fact that she will be swimming on the Dutch mixed 4x100m freestyle relay later in the session.
As the top female freestyle sprinter for the Netherlands, she’ll be playing an important role as the anchor of the team.
The Dutch sprinter finished fifth in the individual 100m freestyle last night during finals on day six with a time of 53.58. She’s been much faster this season, putting up a new national record time of 52.69 in early April.
With her 50m freestyle no-show, Heemskerk has no more individual events at the 2015 World Championships. Following the mixed 4x100m freestyle relay, Heemskerk will likely swim on the women’s 4x100m medley relay on the final day of competition.