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New Zealand’s top swimmers are expecting a reality check at the upcoming Pan Pacific Championships in Canada.  The international meet that includes world powers USA and Australia at full strength runs from 17 to 20 August in Victoria.

The Panpacs fall out sync for the burgeoning New Zealand swim programme with several key swimmers only recently returned to the pool after injury and breaks following success in the Melbourne Commonwealth Games.

The meet offers an important international race opportunity for the New Zealand squad as a litmus test ahead of the next key goal of the world championships in Melbourne next March.

Head coach Jan Cameron (pictured) is not expecting breakthrough performances this time around, but will be chasing strong efforts from her squad.

“The Panpacs are a key part of our programme. Without them we would not have any true international competition for a year up to the world championships, which would make that jump too great,” Cameron said.

“But this year the meet falls at a time that’s not ideal for us. Many of our swimmers have had breaks out of the water after Melbourne. They really needed this to freshen up as it will be their only real break before the Beijing Olympic.

“We’ve had swimmers gaining some experience in training overseas and we have been working on some technical changes with other.

“They will swim well but for many it is going to be tough because they are going to Canada underdone. However it will show us where we are at and what we need to work on before Melbourne next March.

“Our programme is aimed at peak performances for the world championships and Commonwealth and Olympic Games. Cameron is pleased with the continued progress of butterfly swimmer Corney Swanepoel who seems to be back on track.

“He’s making solid progress. Corney is only 20 which is still very young for a fly swimmer so we expect he will continue his upward path.”

The 2005 world championship finalist Liz Coster, who missed out on medals in Melbourne, has concentrated on backstroke in this training phase, rather than her butterfly, with solid performances in last month’s Oceania Championships.

Melbourne medalist Hannah McLean has been based in Europe, while her North Shore clubmate Helen Norfolk trained in the UK while on holiday, while backstroke medalist Cameron Gibson has moved to England to concentrate his future as a freestyle sprinter.

Other Melbourne medalists Moss Burmester and Dean Kent have also had lengthy layoffs.

Kent, 27 and Atlanta Olympian Alison Fitch have both committed to pushing on to the Beijing Olympics, while at the other end of the spectrum Cameron is looking for the continued improvement from Lauren Boyle, who impressed in Melbourne.

The team flies out on Saturday for a week camp in Canada before the meet that starts on 17 August.

New Zealand team:

Andrew McMillan (Neptune, Dunedin); Ben Pickersgill-Brown, Annabelle Carey (Aquagym, Chch); Brynn Murphy (Waves, Dunedin); Cameron Gibson, Corney Swanepoel, Dean Kent, Glenn Snyders, John Zulch, Moss Burmester, Robert Voss, Alison Fitch, Elizabeth Coster, Hannah McLean, Helen Norfolk, Melissa Ingram (all North Shore); Michael Jack, Lauren Boyle (West Auckland Aquatics)

Coaches: Jan Cameron, Thomas Ansorg, Donna Bouzaid