Bell rings another medal in Junior Pan Pacs Swimming

Daniel Bell again rang loudly for the New Zealand team on the second night of finals at the Junior Pan Pacific Swimming Championships in Guam tonight.

Bell, 18 (West Auckland) won a bronze medal in the final of the men’s 100m freestyle, following on from his gold in his chosen 100m backstroke last night.

He qualified easily for the final and set a new national age group mark with a brilliant 50.59 in the final, nearly 7/10ths inside his own previous record.

Wellington’s Samantha Lucie-Smith and North Shore’s Mitchell Donaldson were the only other swimmers to qualify for an A final. Smith, 17, (Karori Pirates) finished eighth in the 400m individual medley in a solid 5:00.30 while Donaldson, 16, was sixth in the same event in 4:25.87.

The men’s 800m freestyle relay team were fifth in the final in a solid 7:37.79 and are fourth overall on points after two days while the women were sixth in 8:25.09and are sixth overall.

New Zealand swimmers qualified for six B finals.

New Zealand results, day 2, Pan Pacific Championships, Guam:
A finals:
Men 100m freestyle: Tommaso D’Orsogna (Australia) 49.75, 1; Daniel Smith (Australia) 49.99, 2; Daniel Bell (NZL) 50.49, 3.
Men 400m individual medley: Mitchell Donaldson 4:25.87, 6.
Men 4x200m freestyle relay: NZL 7:37.79, 5.
Women 4x200m freestyle relay: NZL 8:25.09, 6.

B finals:
Women 100m freestyle: Amaka Gessler 57.28, 4; Ellen Quirke 58.01, 5; Samantha Lee 1:00.02, 8.
100m breaststroke: Chloe Francis 1:12.75, 3.
400m individual medley: Phoebe Williams 5:07.84, 7; Elizabeth Brown 5:10.44, 8.