Reigning Olympic silver medalist and 2023 world champion, Matthew Richards was eliminated as early as the semi-finals of the 200m freestyle at the World Swimming Championships on Monday. English by birth but always representing Wales due to his father’s heritage, he was Wales’ best individual medal hope in Singapore. The Briton has suffered a real setback with this early exit.

He had hoped to dethrone the heavy favourite David Popovici, but in the end, he didn’t even get the chance to defend his title in the final. Matthew Richards completely missed the key event of the year for all international swimmers. World champion in the 200m freestyle in 2023—where he produced a stunning final 50 meters to touch out David Popovici (who was only 18 at the time and had gone out too fast)—Richards looked capable of repeating that performance.

Still, he wasn’t entering the race as the outright favourite. That status belonged to Romanian swimmer David Popovici, who had won Olympic gold in this discipline in Paris last year, finishing just two hundredths of a second ahead of Richards, who was seen as the biggest threat.

But to have a shot at challenging the Romanian in the final, Richards first needed to qualify. That meant posting one of the eight fastest times across the two semi-finals.

Racing in the second semi-final, which turned out to be very tactical, Richards got caught out. The race was too slow and strategic, and he wasn’t able to close fast enough in the last 50 meters. He finished third in the heat but only managed the 12th-best time overall—far from enough to make the final.

Still in contention for medals

It’s worth noting that Richards had already faltered in the final of the Aquatics GB Championships back in March, when he let Duncan Scott and James Guy take gold.

Richards has not spoken publicly about the result and is now focusing on his other individual event, the 100m freestyle, with the semi-finals taking place on Tuesday.

He will also have a shot at a medal in the 4x200m freestyle relay, where Great Britain is the reigning Olympic champion.

Image source : Aquatics GB