Andrew Bree reached last year's Commonwealth final

Andrew Bree suffered a disappointment when he failed to make the semi-finals of the 200 metres breaststroke at the World Championships in Barcelona.

The Helen's Bay swimmer's time of 2:15.23 left him 17th quickest in Wednesday morning's heats - an agonising 0.03 of a second outside qualification.

A personal best performance from the Irishman would have comfortably earned him a place in the semi-finals.

Bree finished a fine fifth in last year's Commonwealth Championship where he set a personal best of 2:14.40.

He suffered a setback in January when he broke his ankle after suffering a fall in icy conditions in the US.

Cork's Lee Kelleher failed to qualify for the next stage of the women's 200m Butterfly.

After a bright start, Kelleher eventually faded to fifth at the finish (2:19.53) which was almost five seconds down on her personal best.

She was ranked 33rd overall of 39 swimmers and will hope for better in Friday¿s 50m Butterfly where Carrickfergus swimmer Julie Douglas also competes.

In Tuesday's 50m heats Bree clocked a time of 29.65 seconds which left him in 37th place.

The Irishman placed 41st in Sunday's 100m heats when he came home in 1:03.73.