State Insurance New Zealand Swimming Championships – Day 3 Wrap

Olympian Glenn Snyders got the perfect birthday present when he won through to Commonwealth Games qualifying at the State Insurance New Zealand Championship in Waitakere City tonight.

Snyders, who turned 23 today, was joined by fellow Beijing Olympian Hayley Palmer to make it six qualifiers with two days remaining in the championships at the West Wave Aquatics Centre that double as the official Commonwealth Games Trials.

Both swimmers went under the qualifying times in the morning heats and repeated the performances under pressure in the finals.

Snyders said it was mission accomplished but he wanted a better performance.

“I was really relaxed this morning and swam well. I probably just tried too hard tonight and the stroke was not as long and not as smooth as this morning.

“But tonight was about making that qualifying time. Now I have time to work on swimming faster and to be competitive come time for the Commonwealth Games. It was a good birthday present, for sure.”

Snyders went out faster than the morning, going through the 50m in 28.70s and while his stroke shortened in the final 15m, he had enough in the tank to win in 1:01.56, which was 2/10ths under the qualifying time.

He finished ahead of US-based Nic Ferrif (North Shore) and Luke Westgaard (Roskill).

It was a similar story for Palmer, who went under the qualifying time this morning and also turned fractionally ahead of the heat time in 26.29s. Palmer held on to win in 55.17 ahead of Capital’s Tash Hind and North Shore’s Penelope Marshall to go under the qualifying mark by 2/10ths of a second.

“That’s a pleasing result for sure.  The focus tonight was getting under that qualifying time,” Palmer said. “For sure the aim was to go faster but first and foremost it was about qualifying.

“I knew that getting to my New Zealand record of 53-high which was set in the full suits was unrealistic but my aim is to be very competitive by the time I get to New Delhi.”

North Shore’s Emily Thomas, formerly from Gisborne, fought back from the disappointment of missing out on the Commonwealth Games by 2/10ths of a second in the 100m backstroke last night to score a New Zealand record tonight.

She won the 50m backstroke in 28.29s, which took 3/10ths off Elizabeth Coster’s national record but still 4/10ths from the qualifying mark, which is set at a tougher mark as a non-Olympic event.

There was disappointment for Corney Swanepoel who finished a close second to training partner Moss Burmester in the men’s 100m butterfly, with both swimmers just over the the Games qualifying time.

Burmester won in 53.69 with Swanepoel in 53.92 with fellow North Shore swimmer Matt Thomas third.

“It was slow,” said Burmester. “I can only put it down to the suits really because both Corney and I have been training right up to our best times. It’s going to take some time to adjust but I am gutted for Corney.”

In other finals Chloe Francis (North Shore) beat her older sister Grace to win the 100m breaststroke, Auckland’s Brett Newall (United) took out the 400m individual medley and US-based Lauren Boyle made it two titles when she won the 800m freestyle in a close battle with Queensland-based Cara Baker, who has already qualified for the open water swim at the world championships.

The championships finish on Friday.

Results, day 3 finals:

Men 100m breaststroke: Glenn Snyders (North Shore) 1:01.56, 1 (Commonwealth Games qualifier); Nicholas Ferrif (North Shore) 1:02.31, 2; Luke Westgaard (Roskill) 1:03.73, 3.

Women 100m freestyle: Hayley Palmer (North Shore) 55.17, 1 (Commonwealth Games qualifier); Tash Hind (Capital) 55.79, 2; Penelope Marshall (North Shore) 56.21, 3.

Men 100m butterfly: Moss Burmester (North Shore) 53.69, 1; Corney Swanepoel (North Shore) 53.92, 2; Matt Thomas (North Shore) 54.51, 3.

Women 50m backstroke: Emily Thomas (North Shore) 28.39, 1 (NZ record); Laura Quilter (Comet) 29.63, 2; Danielle Koni (Roskill) 29.80, 3.

Women 100m breaststroke: Chloe Francis (North Shore) 1:12.73, 1; Grace Francis (North Shore) 1:12.89, 2; Kelly Briden (QEII) 1:12.94, 3.

Men 400m Individual Medley: Brett Newall (United) 4:28.32, 1; Carsten Corazza (Howick Pakuranga) 4:30.39, 2; Matthew Glassford (Neptune) 4:32.97, 3.

Women 800m freestyle: Lauren Boyle (North Shore) 8:41.83, 1; Cara Baker (Howick Pakuranga) 8:49.17, 2; Samantha Lucie-Smith (Karori Pirates) 9:00.06, 3.

Full details: www.swimmingnz.org.nz