GRACE Khelan came close to securing a place in the final of the women’s 50 metres freestyle after finishing 11th in the heats at the Dakar 2026 Youth Olympic Games in Senegal, on Wednesday.
Khelan clocked 26.88 seconds in a field of 68 swimmers, finishing just 0.23 seconds outside the qualifying time for the final.
She also competed in the women’s 50m butterfly, recording 29.87 seconds to finish 19th out of 40 competitors.
Fellow swimmer Thaddeus Kwong also featured in the pool, clocking 26.53 seconds in the men’s 50m butterfly to finish 23rd out of 42 swimmers.
Kwong had earlier produced a personal best in the men’s 100m backstroke on Tuesday this week, finishing 14th out of 29 competitors with a time of 1:00.66.
His personal best was an encouraging result too as he continued to test himself against international competitors at the Games.
Meanwhile, Fiji’s futsal U17 girls team suffered a 5-1 defeat to Ukraine in their Group A encounter on Tuesday.
Kinisimere Botesulu scored Fiji’s only goal in the first half as the side faced a tough challenge against their opponents.
The results marked another day of competition for Fiji’s young athletes, with Khelan and Kwong representing the country in the swimming events while the futsal team, track and other sports athletes continued its campaign against international opposition.
