Three more records for New Zealand swimmers
Kiwi swimmers broke three New Zealand records amid some strong performances on the second night of finals at the world short course championships in China tonight.
Commonwealth Games medalist Hannah McLean broke her own record in the 100m backstroke for the third time at the meet but was edged out of a medal by a fingertip in Shanghai.
Teammate Georgina Toomey also set a New Zealand record while the men’s 4x200m freestyle relay team enjoyed their second record of the day.
Dean Kent and Zoe Baker both enjoyed impressive efforts with New Zealand swimmers contesting four finals tonight.
“It was another strong day from the team. In the past we have come to world championships with the main goal of making semifinals,” coach Jan Cameron said. “Now we are seeing New Zealand swimmers breaking records and making finals.
“The quality of swimmers at this meet is very strong, particularly in the women’s competition. Hannah McLean was outstanding tonight and deserved a medal while Dean Kent, Zoe Baker and the relay team all swam very competitively.
“Georgina Toomey has been working very hard and it was wonderful to see her reaping that reward with a national record tonight, while Alison Fitch and Helen Norfolk did well. The squad is in great heart and looking forward to the rest of the meet to more records and more finals.”
McLean broke her own national mark for the third straight time at the championships in the final that was dominated by top qualifier Janine Pietsch (Germany) who set a new championship record of 58.02s. The New Zealander turned in third place just behind Australian Tayliah Zimmer with Chang Gao (China) storming home from lane seven to deprive McLean from a medal by 2/10ths of a second.
The outstanding North Shore swimmer lowered her own New Zealand record to 59.00s to prove she is a backstroker of world class, taking more than half a second off the national mark.
Team-mate Liz Coster finished seventh just outside her sub-one minute swim in the semifinal which augers well for her sprint events to come.
The men’s 4x200m freestyle relay team demolished the national record in the morning heats, wiping 10 seconds off the old mark to record 7:12.70 to grab the final qualifying spot.
They edged under this by half a second in the final, finishing eighth after a ding-dong battle with the Czech Republic. Robert Voss and Cameron Gibson had strong swims with Andrew McMillan going under the 1min 48sec barrier and Commonwealth Games medal-winning butterfly exponent Moss Burmester anchoring the quartet with a superb 1:47.07.
Kent fought hard in the gruelling 400m individual medley. He was a close fourth after the butterfly and in a share of third at the midway point after the backstroke. Kent, despite being a strong breaststroke exponent, was edged back to fourth at the 300m mark and could not hold off Russia’s Igor Berezutskiy and American Robert Margalis in the final freestyle discipline to settle for fifth.
Kent recorded an impressive 4:08.04 but needed to better his 2003 national mark to force his way on to the podium.
Baker, the former world record holder, made an aggressive charge in the final of the 50m breaststroke to be second at the turn but was swamped over the final 10m to finish sixth in 30.75, a touch outside the New Zealand record she set in last night’s semifinals. She was only 5/10ths of a second from the winner, Australian Jade Edmistone, the Commonwealth champion and world long and short course recordholder.
The 18-year-old Toomey grabbed a New Zealand record in his second personal best of the day in the 50m butterfly. She flew down the first length to turn in under 13 seconds, finishing seventh in a very fast second semifinal in 26.79s. This was 2/10ths of a second under the previous record set by teammate Nichola Chellingworth in the Melbourne World Cup in 2004 and gives an indication of Toomey’s undoubted potential.
Alison Fitch, superb in yesterday’s outstanding relay effort, needed a lifetime best to make it through to the finals in the 100m freestyle and while she went 3/10ths faster than her qualifying time from the heats, her 55.04s was a creditable 10th place from the semifinalists.
Helen Norfolk improved on her morning heat swim to clock 1:03.38 in the semifinal of the 100m individual medley but needed to go well inside her own New Zealand record to have forced a place in the final of this sprint event dominated by defending champion Brooke Hanson (Australia).
New Zealand results day 2:
100m freestyle semifinals: Alison Fitch 55.04, 10th fastest.
400m individual medley final: Dean Kent 4:08.01, 5th.
50m breaststroke final: Zoe Baker 30.75, 6th.
50m butterfly semifinals: Georgina Toomey 26.79, 9th (NZ Record)
100m backstroke final: Hannah McLean 59.00, 4th (NZ Record); Liz Coster 1:00.16, 7th.
100m individual medley semifinal: Helen Norfolk 1:03.38, 14th.
4x200m men’s freestyle relay: New Zealand 7:12.29, 8th NZ Record (Robert Voss 1:48.41, Cameron Gibson 1:48.94, Andrew McMillan 1:47.88, Burmester )1:47.06
Full results: www.swimmingnz.org.nz or www.fina.org
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