Kirlew optimistic about the future after short Olympic experience

Paris, France:

JOSH KIRLEW’S first Olympic moment may not have lasted as long as he would have liked, but he is appreciative of the year he has had and optimistic about the future.

Kirlew finished fifth in the first round of the men’s 100-metre butterfly at the Paris La Defense Arena on Friday in 54.66 seconds, a time that was not good enough to make the semi-finals.

Kirlew donned the Jamaican colours for the second time this year, his first at the Olympic Games. For him, it is a moment that he will not only treasure, but will also use to fuel his progression.

It’s sensational. It may not have been the time that I wanted but I’m glad I swam, I’m glad I got to represent my country and there is going to be more to come,” Kirlew told Television Jamaica.

Kirlew’s time ranked him 36th of the 40 competitors that took the pool for the heats. Kirlew said that he executed to the best of his ability and walks away from the experience with no regrets about the effort that he put in.

“I have achieved what I set out to do. Same stroke count and same time underwater. I did it as hard as I could and ultimately that is all I can ask for,” Kirlew said.

Kirlew, who is based in the United Kingdom, is focused on ensuring that he helps to usher in the young talent that Jamaica possesses.

KIrlew finished fifth in his heat, touching the wall behind Croatia’s Nikola Mijenic, 53.32, Uganda’s Jess Ssuubi Ssengonzi, 53.76, Indonesia’s Joe Kurniawan, 53.95, and Montenegro’s Milos Milenkovic, 54.26.

Nobody from the heat was fast enough to make the 16-man semifinal with 51.82 seconds the slowest of those.

Yesterday, Kirlew’s teammate Sabrina Lyn, swimming in heat 7 of the women’s 50-metre freestyle, also failed to make it to the semi-finals.

Lyn clocked 26.08 seconds for fifth in the heat.