State Insurance NZ Swimming Championships – Day 5 Wrap, Results
State Insurance NZ Swimming Championships – Day 5 Wrap, Results
Experienced performers Glenn Snyders and Lauren Boyle brought the house down on the penultimate night of finals at the State Insurance New Zealand Championships in Auckland tonight.
The pair, both from Swimming New Zealand’s High Performance Centre, produced qualifying performances for July’s FINA World Championships in Shanghai, which means there are currently eight swimmers in eight events having met the times.
Boyle, 23, claimed the 800m freestyle title in emphatic style with her 8:33.30 eclipsing the oldest remaining mark in the New Zealand record books, that of Philippa Langrell at the 1992 Olympics in 8:35.57. It follows her qualifying swim in the 400m freestyle and national title in the 200m freestyle.
Snyders celebrated his 24th birthday today in style with a gutsy performance in winning the 200m breaststroke honours in 2:12.89, a second under the qualifying time for Shanghai. He had to dig deep with a sub-35 second final 50m to get the job done, brought home with strong support from the spectators.
Boyle showed her experience with a well paced effort in the 800m, going through on target in 4:12.98 before reeling off 32-second lengths and cranking home in 31 seconds for the record. She finished clear of Howick Pakuranga’s Cara Baker (8:48.52) and Capital’s Samantha Lucie-Smith (8:50.51).
“She is a world class 800m swimmer and that’s where I believe she has the best future,” said coach Mark Regan who has enjoyed Olympic and World Championship success with distance freestylers.
“I wanted her to go out on 4:12 and really experience the hurt. I think at the worlds if we can get Lauren to around 4:09 then it could be around a potential medal.”
Snyders went through the 100m in a strong 1:03.80 in the 200m breaststroke and held on to clock 2:12.89, well clear of US-based Nicholas Ferrif (North Shore) in 2:17.76 and Carsten Corazza (Howick Pakuranga) in 2:19.77.
“It’s a great birthday present. The boys all wished me well when I woke up today and I knew it would be a great day,” Snyders said.
“All the best breaststrokers in the world can do all the distances well so this was really encouraging. My aim is to make the finals at Shanghai. I think that’s within my capability.”
There were disappointments also in the women’s 100m freestyle and men’s 200m backstroke.
Tash Hind (HPC Capital) finished the stronger to edge fellow Commonwealth Games medallist Hayley Palmer in a close fought 100m.
But both missed qualification for the world championships by a touch with Hind (55.53) missing by 2/10ths of a second and US-based Palmer (55.80) by half a second. Amaka Gessler (HPC Motueka) was third in a personal best 56.19s.
Delhi silver medallist Gareth Kean (Capital) had already gone under the qualifying time for the 100m backstroke earlier in the meet but missed out on his specialist distance in the 200m backstroke tonight. He finished in 2:00.94 after fading in the second 100m.
“I had been really concentrating on the 100m this year and was pleased with that performance,” Kean said. “So I wasn’t so sure about the 200m as I hadn’t done the same endurance work while I concentrated more on my speed.”
He won comfortably from Howick Pakuranga’s Corey Main (2:04.26) and North Shore’s Ben Gillies (2:04.59).
Fifteen-year-old Natasha Lloyd (North Canterbury) retained her 200m breaststroke title in 2:32.10 setting a new personal best in the process ahead of Katie Kenneally (Neptune) in 2:35.87 and Chloe Francis (North Shore) in 2:36.70.
The meet finishes tomorrow with key events including the men’s 1500m freestyle, women’s 200m backstroke and women’s 400m individual medley.
Results of day 5 finals:
Women’s 800m freestyle: Lauren Boyle (HPC North Shore) 8:33.30, 1 (NZ Record, World champs qualifying); Cara Baker (Howick Pakuranga) 8:48.52, 2; Samantha Lucie-Smith (Capital) 8:50.51, 3.
Women’s 100m freestyle: Tash Hind (HPC Capital) 55.53, 1; Hayley Palmer (North Shore) 55.80, 2; Amaka Gessler (HPC Motueka) 56.19, 3.
Men’s 200m backstroke: Gareth Kean (Capital) 2:00.94, 1; Corey Main (Howick Pakuranga) 2:04.26, 2; Ben Gillies 2:04.59, 3.
Women’s 200m breaststroke: Natasha Lloyd (North Canterbury) 2:32.10, 1; Katie Kenneally (Neptune) 2:35.87, 2; Chloe Francis (HPC North Shore) 2:36.70, 3.
Men’s 200m breaststroke: Glenn Snyders (HPC North Shore) 2:12.89, 1 (World champs qualifying); Nicholas Ferrif (North Shore) 2:17.76, 2; Carsten Corazza (Howick Pakuranga) 2:19.77, 3.
CAPTION: Glenn Snyders celebrates his victory in the 200m breaststroke at the State Insurance New Zealand Swimming Championships tonight.
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