Marrit Steenbergen first Dutch to swim into the semi-finals of the World Cup

Double Olympic champion Marrit Steenbergen crowned her first Dutch appearance at the World Aquatics Championships in Doha with a semi-final place in the 200-meter medley. The 24-year-old from Friesland swam the third-fastest time (2.11,45) in the series. The American defending champion Kate Douglass was by far the fastest in 2.10,01 minutes.

Steenbergen can hope for a medal after her seventh place at the World Championships in Japan last year. With an eye on the Olympic Games, four of the eight finalists from Fukuoka skipped this competition in Qatar. She then took bronze in the 100-meter freestyle.

The semi-finals in the 200-meter medley will take place on Sunday at 5 p.m. The battle for the medals will follow on Monday evening.

24-year-old Steenbergen expects the battle for the medals to be "very exciting". "Douglass stands apart from the rest, but after that, there are five to six swimmers who can swim 2.09. I hope that I can set a personal best," said Steenbergen, who set a Dutch record of 2.09,13 minutes last April.

After her race, the medal candidate complained about the long 45-minute bus ride from her hotel to the Aspire Dome swimming stadium. "I think I'll be taking a lot of cabs this week," she said.

After swimming out, Steenbergen went back to her room for a while and returned late in the afternoon for her semi-final in the 200-meter medley and the possible final in the 4x100m freestyle. She leaves the preliminary round later Sunday morning to Kim Busch, Milou van Wijk, and Janna van Kooten.