Three into AYOF finals on Day one

Three swimmers qualified for finals on the first day of competition in the pool at the Australian Youth Olympic Festival in Sydney today.

Matamata’s Matthew Stanley led the way with a strong performance to finish seventh in the final of the 200m butterfly in 1:55.69. Earlier in the day he had reduced his personal best by nearly three seconds in the morning heats.

Stanley was only two seconds outside the national age group record held by the great Danyon Loader, who is the Chef de Mission for the New Zealand team at the AYOF.

Auckland’s Alannah Jury, 17, was eighth in the women’s 200m freestyle in a personal best 2:06.49.

Auckland’s Thomas McEwan, 17, was seventh in the final of the 200m butterfly in 2:11.95.

“That was an outstanding start,” said coach Andy Adair. “We’ve been really working the swimmers’ strategies for their races, making sure they’re really relaxed through the first half of the race. They had a lot more to come home with.

“The best swim of the day was Matthew Stanley, an inexperienced young swimmer who went in ranked 14th and lowered that to seventh.”

Of the 15 young swimmers in the pool at Sydney Olympic Park this morning, 13 recorded personal bests.

Finals:
200m freestyle, female: Alannah Jury (Auckland) 2:06.49, 8.
200m freestyle, male: Matthew Stanley (Matamata) 1:55.69, 7.
200m butterfly, male: Thomas McEwan (Auckland) 2:11.95, 7.