Madelyn Moore endured a baptism of fire competing among an elite field at the World Short Course Championships at the Ethiad Arena in Abu Dhabi yesterday.

The Bermudian swimmer, who is making her debut at the championships, bowed out of the women’s 100 metre freestyle at the first hurdle.

Moore finished fifth among a field of ten in her preliminary qualifying heat. But a time of 55:72sec was not enough to propel her through to the semi-final.

Still, Moore was encouraged by her time, despite having made an early exit from the competition.

“I haven’t done long course metres in five years now so I didn’t really know what to expect,” she told The Royal Gazette.

“But I was positively surprised with the result and I’m just really excited to swim the 50 freestyle. I think that will be a really big event for me.”

The University of Northern Colorado senior finished 40th among the overall 85 qualifiers. The top sixteen swimmers advanced to the semi-finals.

Siobhan Bernadette Haughey, of Hong Kong, was the top qualifier with a time of 51.97sec.

Haughey won a pair of silver medals in the 100 and 200 metres freestyle at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics held this summer.

She has already achieved success in Dubai having won the gold in the 200 metres freestyle.

Meanwhile, Moore is also scheduled to compete in the 50 metres backstroke and 50 metres butterfly at the championships which run until December 21.

The 21-year comes into the event with plenty of momentum having produced a string of victories, personal best times and school and national records, while competing for her school this year.

The reigning Western Athletic Conference Swimmer of the Year has also thrived on the international scene, capturing gold medals in the 50 and 100 metres freestyle and 50 and 100 metres butterfly at the Central American and Caribbean Amateur Swimming Confederation Championships in Puerto Rico in June.

Her time of 27.12 in the 50 metres butterfly was a meet record and personal best.