The Dunedin swimmer finished 13th in the women’s 1500m freestyle at the world championships in Budapest, Hungary. Deans (22) clocked 16min 30.47sec to place in the top half of the 26-swimmer field.
The time was 3sec slower than the personal best she recorded to qualify for the championships in April but it remains among her fastest times.
It was her first long-course world championship race, although she has previously competed in the short-course championships.
American star Katie Ledecky blitzed the field to qualify first for the final. She finished in 15min 47.02sec, almost 10sec ahead of second qualifier Simona Quadrella, from Italy.
Chile’s Kristel Kobrich got the eighth, and final, qualifying spot in 16min 13.52sec.
Deans will also swim in the women’s 4x200m freestyle relay.
