Malfunctions with the starting equipment forced two swimmers to race alone in the heats of the men's 100m backstroke at the world championships on Monday.
Simone Sabbioni of Italy and Dylan Carter of Trinidad and Tobago both had their initial races disrupted when the wedge, which allows backstroke swimmers to gain leverage off the wall, gave way.
Simone Sabbioni (Yonhap)
Sabbioni had to race alone twice, as the wedge failed again in his second attempt. On his third race, Sabbioni clocked 53.85 seconds to rank 13th in the heats and qualify for the semifinals, open to the top 16.
Carter made the semifinals right on the number with a time of 54.03.
He said he had already taken off his suit when he found out he was getting a second chance, and he had put on a new suit.
"It's unfortunate and it's not fair to me that I have to swim twice to make the semifinal," he said. (Yonhap)
