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.