Swimmers halted in semis

New Zealand’s two swimming semi-finalists found the going tough tonight.

Corey Main finished 14^th in the 200m backstroke semis, being timed at 1min 58.08s. The leading qualifier was Russian Evgeny Rylov in 1 min 54.45s.

In the 200m individual medley semis, Bradlee Ashby swam 2min 00.45s and finished sixth in his heat, 14th overall. American star Michael Phelps was the fastest qualifier, in 1 min 55.78s.