New Zealands Beijing swimmers take on Australia

New Zealand’s Beijing bound swimmers will get a reality check when they take on the might of world superpower Australia in Sydney this weekend.

The kiwi contingent will use the Grand Prix meet at Sydney Aquatic Centre as a litmus test on their progress and some invaluable racing practice against one of the sport’s powerhouses.

The meet on Friday to Sunday will include all their Olympic events, and will be run under the Beijing format of heats on the evening from 6pm and finals in the morning from 10am.

The entire New Zealand squad will head to Sydney minus the men’s freestyle relay squad, confirmed yesterday for Beijing, and young West Auckland backstroker Daniel Bell, who will head to the world junior championships in Mexico.

The kiwis will come up against the full Australia Olympic team including recent world record-breakers Eamon Sullivan, Stephanie Rice, Libby Trickett, Emily Seebohm and Sophie Edington and superstar Leisel Jones.

“It will be great for the entire squad,” Swimming New Zealand head coach Jan Cameron said. “We have put in another very tough three-week stint since the Oceania Championships and this gives us another opportunity to compete in full training and under fatigue.

“First and foremost it will give us a measure on how they are progressing and what we have to hone in on in the final training stint. It will be a fantastic chance to practise racing against the best, and the very important job of ensuring we get our pre-race and post-race protocols right in terms of the Beijing format.

“The Australians, particularly their women, will set the benchmark also so we can gauge our progress.

“I am not particularly concerned with the results or the times but rather they concentrate on getting the protocols right, the racing plans and strategies right and that their training is on track to enable them to produce their best performances in five weeks time.”

The squad will swim in all of their Olympic events among others with the sprinters also contesting Monaco knockout events to offer more swim chances.

The New Zealand team will come back to train in Auckland for the next three weeks before heading to Japan for their staging camp before arriving in Beijing on August 5.