Muscat fails to achieve own record

Malta swimmer Nicola Muscat, 18, was fourth in her 50m race qualifier at the London Aquatics Centre today, in a Heat Five event that was won by Lithuania’s swim sensation Ruta Meilutyte.

Muscat’s time was 27.22 seconds which was half-a-second outside her previous best and national record of 26.87 seconds.

Meilutyte, 15, won the race in 25.55 seconds ahead of Gabriela Nikitina (Latvia, 26.26) and Chinyere Pigot (Surinam, 26.30).

Muscat, originally scheduled to race in the women's 100m heats, was faster than Jessica Teixeira (Mozambique, 27.39), Talita Baqlah (Jordan, 27.45), Faye Sultan (Kuwait, 27.92), and Jamila Lunkuse (Uganda, 28.44).

On Monday, Meilutyte won the women’s 100m breaststroke race, beating the US favourite Rebecca Soni to the gold medal.

Muscat’s race brings to a close Malta’s participation in the swim events at the London Games. Earlier this week, Andrew Chetcuti swam the men's 100m heats and established a new national record for the event in 51.67 seconds.