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Collin Matiza Harare Bureau
KIRSTY Coventry will today be looking at making her first final of the 2015 Fina World Swimming Championships when she takes part in the qualifying heats of her most favourite event — the women’s 200m backstroke — in Kazan, Russia.

The 31-year-old Zimbabwean swimming icon has failed to make it into the finals of the first two events which she has taken part in so far at the championships — the 100m and 50m backstroke.

Coventry, who turns 32 on September 16, first took part in the opening heats of the 100m backstroke at the beginning of the week where she managed to reach the semi-finals of this event but could not proceed to the final after finishing 10th overall in the semis.

Only the top eight swimmers with the fastest times in the semi-finals pulled through to the final which was held on Tuesday night.

But the likeable Zimbabwean swimmer managed to post a qualifying time for the women’s 100m backstroke event for next year’s Rio Olympic Games in Brazil despite failing to make it into the final in Kazan this week.

After competing in the women’s 100m backstroke event, Coventry was back in the pool on Wednesday morning for the preliminary rounds of the 50m backstroke competition and she did well to reach the semis but she, unfortunately, could not make it into last night’s final.

According to reports from Kazan, Coventry finished in a tie for 9th overall in the heats to qualify for the semis where she disappointingly finished 12th overall with a time of 28.28 seconds and with it blowing her chances of making it into last night’s final.

In fact, in the 50m backstroke semi-finals, six different women swam sub-28 seconds on Wednesday and that’s what it took them to advance to the final and Zimbabwe’s Coventry was, unfortunately, not among them.

And now Coventry will be out to redeem herself at this year’s World Championships when she takes part in her most favourite event — the 200m backstroke — which opens with the heats and semis today. The final will be held tomorrow.

Two-time Olympic Games gold medallist Coventry is in Heat 5 of the five-heat women’s 200m backstroke preliminaries where she will swim against the likes of fellow supremely talented swimmers such as Missy Franklin of the United States, Australia’s Emily Seebohm, Hilary Caldwel of Canada and Germany’s Lisa Graf.

Mexican Andrea Garcia, Italy’s Margherita Panziera, Hayley Baker of Australia, Ukraine’s Daryna Zevina and Gisela Morales of Guatemala complete the field in Heat 5.