Dominica: Warren Lawrence misses semis in Men’s 50m at Paris Olympics

Roseau, Dominica: Dominica’s swimmer, Warren Lawrence nearly missed qualifying for the semi-finals in Men’s 50m heats at the 2024 Paris Summer Olympic Games.

Notably, Lawrence is the first Dominican swimmer who has represented the island nation in the Olympics since the 2000 Sydney Games. His participation in this prestigious competition shed light on his determination and outstanding skills which gave him an opportunity to represent his country on an international platform.

Warren Lawrence is also the son of former Olympic Swimmer Woodrow Woody Lawrence who has represented Dominica at the 1996 Atlanta Games. Therefore, his participation carries huge importance for Dominica as he follows the footsteps of his father.

Lawrence swam a time of 24.67 seconds in heat number 4, and managed to finish in 5th place in the very competitive heat. His time was just a little behind his personal best of 24.51 seconds, and he came up short of qualifying for the semi-finals.

Thierry Bollin of Switzerland who swam in a time of 22.95 seconds won the heat and the top 16 swimmers were advanced to the semi-finals. Warren’s time of 24.67 seconds was good enough for a 5th place in his heat. These results of the heat signify that Lawrence has finished at 52nd spot out of the 73 other competitors.

Following the competition, Lawrence expressed disappointment and stated that he is not happy with his performance and added that he could have done better. He stated that he could have done something different in preparation but he did his best and that’s all he could do.

After his defeat, the Dominica Amateur Swimming Association extended support to the athlete and stated that they were proud of the hard work that Lawrence had put in to get to this point. They further asked him to continue to work hard and improve his time and focus on the lessons learnt from this experience.

While recalling his old time, Woodrow Woody Lawrence expressed gratitude and stated that it was an incredible experience for him. “I remember my time, you know, when I competed in Atlanta, you know, having my son here now,” noted Woodrow Lawrence. He stated that it is also a wonderful moment for the family, country as well, for the organization.

He also shed light on the further competitions and stated that they have swimming for two more days, and then they have Thea Lafond, who will be competing tomorrow, and then Danik Luke will be competing for his event. He stated that there’s still a lot of competition to go.