Swimmers to chase higher standards at National Championships

Swimming New Zealand has raised the bar to challenge leading competitors to step up to new international standards for this week’s national open championships in Christchurch.

The five day meet starting on Wednesday at the QEII Leisure Centre is the sole selection for July’s FINA Word Championships in Rome, which are a key stepping stone for next year’s Commonwealth Games which in turn lead to the 2012 London Olympics.

The qualifying level for the world championships is a step up from last year’s times for the Beijing Olympics as SNZ strives to develop swimmers who can make finals at major international competitions.

“The times internationally took a major jump last year, particularly at Beijing. We have reflected that in our qualifying standards and we want to continually challenge our swimmers to improve,” said Jan Cameron, SNZ General Manager, Performance and Pathways.

“Swimmers will have to reach 900 FINA points at the championships to make the team for Rome. This is the new FINA 900 point level that is equal to about 930 points under the old system that operated for the Olympics last year.

“It varies for each event but we want our elite swimmers to be able to make semifinals and better at world championships. We have to always raise the bar if we are to further improve our international ranking and ensure our best swimmers progress.”

Accordingly the team for Rome is likely to be smaller than Beijing although Cameron wants to see some of the next echelon of swimmers put their hands up.

“Our individual swimmers from Beijing are expected to lead the way. But we have lost three of them to retirement in Dean Kent, Liz Coster and Helen Norfolk and the opportunity is there for others to step up and show us they want to push on for the Commonwealth Games and beyond.”

Leading the way will be the key Beijing swimmers led by Moss Burmester (North Shore), fourth at Beijing in the 200m butterfly, who showed he is in good form by going within a second of Danyon Loader’s national 1500m freestyle record at the recent Australian championships.

There will also be an exciting battle in the 100m where he takes on world junior champion Daniel Bell (West Auckland) and training partner Corney Swanepoel, the Olympic semifinalist.

Glenn Snyders (North Shore) is in a class of his own in breaststroke, finishing second fastest at the Australian Championships.

North Shore’s Melissa Ingram, Olympic semifinalist, tops the seedings in the 100 and 200m backstroke and 400m freestyle where she faces fellow Beijing team-mate Tash Hind (Capital) although they will have to watch for the emerging talent of Penelope Marshall (North Shore).

There will be an interesting battle in all backstroke events with Bell leading a group of exciting young prospects that include John Gatfield (Swim Zone Wgtn), Gareth Kean (Capital), Kurt Bassett (Laser Mt Eden) and the North Shore pair John Zulch and Cameron Stanley.

The men’s sprints will also excite with Cameron Gibson up against West Auckland clubmates Bell and Mark Herring, William Benson (North Shore) and Orinoco Faumausili-Banse (Laser Mt Eden).

Also back is 33-year-old former world short course champion Zoe Baker who takes on fellow Cantabrian Annabelle Carey in the key breaststroke events.

The competition heats start at 9am each morning with finals sessions from 6pm.

The competition events are:
Wednesday 1 April: 100m butterfly, 100m breaststroke, Men 800m freestyle, 50m backstroke, Women 1500m freestyle, 400m freestyle relay.
Thursday 2 April: 400m freestyle, 200m breaststroke, 50m freestyle.
Friday 3 April: 200m freestyle, 50m breaststroke, 200m individual medley, 50m butterfly, Women 800m freestyle, 800m freestyle relay.
Saturday 4 April: 100m freestyle, 200m butterfly, 200m backstroke, Men 1500m freestyle.
Sunday 5 April: Men 1500m freestyle, 400m individual medley, 100m backstroke, 400m medley relay.