site.btaLyubomir Epitropov Goes to Semi-finals in Men's 200 m Breaststroke at Paris Olympics

Lyubomir Epitropov advanced to the semi-finals in the men's 200 m breaststroke at the Paris Olympics on Tuesday. The Bulgarian swimmer, who became European champion in the same discipline last month, was the 13th-fastests in the heats on 2:10.59 min.

The 25-year-old was going fifth over part of the distance in Heat 2, but after strong performance in the last lap he finished third, behind winner Yu Hanaguruma of Japan and second-placed Matt Fallon of the United States. Epitropov fell short of his personal record of 2:09.45 min, which is also Bulgaria's national record, thus hopefully sparing more of his energy for the semi-finals later on Tuesday.

These are Epitropov's second Olympic Games after Tokyo 2020, where he reached the semi-finals at 200 m breaststroke and placed 15th.

After Tuesday's heats, he told journalists: "I do not feel any strain. I am here to have fun and to do my best. I hope I can recover and start off better this afternoon, and hopefully reach the finals."

The fastest time in the men's 200 m breaststroke heats was recorded by South Korea's Sung Jae Cho - 2:09.45 min, which equals Epitropov's personal record.