MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA? The University of Kentucky sophomore swimmer Mickey Malul tapped in sixth place in the 50-meter breaststroke at the FINA World Championships being held in Australia.

Malul representing his native country of Israel edged his way into the finals by finishing eighth overall in the preliminary heats.

Given his chance, Malul nudged ahead of two other participants for sixth place overall in the world tapping in a time of 28.19 just a little more than a half second off of the winning time of 27.66.

The United States? Brendan Hansen finished second behind the Ukraine?s Oleg Lisogor. Lisogor entered the finals as the number five seed, while Hansen held the fourth seed. Russia?s Cameron Van Der Burgh entered the final heat with the number one seed overall and finished in third place.

In 2006, Malul as a member of Kentucky?s 200-medley relay team at the NCAA Championships had the best 50-yard breaststroke spilt among the field of contenders.

This season, Malul was a representative of Kentucky at the NCAA Championships where he placed 19th in the 100-yard breast.