Pan Pacific Swimming Championships Day 2 Wrap

Emily Thomas produced a superb performance to grab the bronze medal on the second night of finals at the Pan Pacific Swimming Championships in California.

It is New Zealand’s first medal at the Pan Pacs for more than a decade, with the last medal by Trent Bray who won a bronze at Fukuoka in 1997.

The event, rated only behind the Olympics and World Championships, includes the swimming powerhouses of USA, Australia, Japan and Canada among others.

Thomas finished in a tie for third place with two others swimmers with half a second covering the field won by Australia’s triple Commonwealth Games champion Sophie Edington.

The Gisborne swimmer now based with the Swimming New Zealand High Performance squad at Millennium Institute clocked 28.44 which was a fingertip off her own national record.

“I was trying to go in to get a PB and hopefully medal but in the end I did not have to do a PB to get one,” Thomas said. “The 50 is my favourite so I just wanted to go out and have fun.

“I was happy with my start but I would have liked to have kept my stroke rate up at the end but it dropped a little bit although it was pretty good.

“It is a really good confidence boost for the commonwealth Games so I am excited for that now. I definitely believe I can be a real threat at Delhi.”

It sparked an outstanding night for the New Zealand squad with Southland’s Natalie Wiegersma fifth in the A final of the 400m individual medley while the women’s 4x200m freestyle team set a new national record, going under the eight minute mark for the first time.

In other swims Daniel bell was third in the B final of the 50m backstroke in 25.52, which would have placed sixth in the A final while Gareth Kean, a long distance specialist, was sixth in a personal best 25.94, his first time under the 26 second mark with less than a second covering the top 14 swimmers.

Hayley Palmer was eighth in the A final of the 100m freestyle in a solid 56.04 while Glenn Snyders produced an excellent performance close to his best with a 1:00.74 to place second in the B final of the 100m breaststroke.

Wiegersma, from the Waverly club in Invercargill, enjoyed an excellent performance in the biggest stage of her young career. The 19 year old challenged the leaders through her powerful butterfly and backstroke disciplines, turning in third at the 200m mark. She fell back slightly on the breaststroke and held off any challenges for her fifth placing in 4:41.93, close to her best.

American Elizabeth Beisel won in 4:34.69 ahead of Australia’s Samantha Hamill with Wiegersma ranked second best of the Commonwealth swimmers at the meet, a boost for her upcoming chances in Delhi.

Thomas, who had qualified in the outside lane for the final of the 50m backstroke, stormed home in the final 15m to clock 28.44, half a second behind the winner and remarkably in a three-way tie for third place with Fabiloa Molina (BRA) and Rachel Bootsma (USA).

Thomas got an early birthday present – she turns 20 in two days time – with a superb performance in her first major world event, to be as the second ranked Commonwealth swimmer behind Edington at the meet to make her a genuine medal contender for Delhi.

The evening was capped with a strong performance from the women’s 4x200m relay team who took more than two seconds off the national record set by the team on the way to a bronze medal at the Melbourne Commonwealth Games.

They clocked 7:59.80 for fifth place behind USA, Australia and Canada which sets up an intriguing battle ahead at the Commonwealth Games.

New Zealand was led off with a superb personal best 1:598.58 effort from Lauren Boyle, close to the national record, Tash Hind also under the two minute mark, Amaka Gessler with a 32:02 and Melissa Ingram home with a 2:00 effort to edge under the eight minute mark.

Results, A finals:
100m freestyle: Natalie Coughlin (USA) 53.67, 1 (Championship record); Emily Seebolm (AUS) 53.96, 2; Dana Vollmer (USA) 53.96, 3. Also: Hayley Palmer (NZL) 56.04, 8.

400m individual medley: Elizabeth Biesel (USA) 4:34.69, 1; Samantha Hamill (AUS) 4:37.64, 2; Caitlin Leverenz (USA) 4:38.03, 3. Also: Natalie Wiegersma (NZL) 4:41.93, 5.

50m backstroke: Sophie Edington (AUS) 27.83, 1; Aya Terakawa (JPN) 28.04, 2; Emily Thomas (NZL), Fabiloa Molina (BRA), Rachel Bootsma (USA) 28.44, equal 3.

Women’s 4x200m freestyle relay: USA 7:51.21, 1 (Championship record); Australia 7:52.64, 2; Canada 7:54.32, 3. Also: New Zealand 7:59.80, 5 (Lauren Boyle 1:58.58, Tash Hind 1:58.76, Amaka Gessler 2:02.08, Melissa Ingram 2:00.38) NZ record.

B Finals:
100m breaststroke: Michael Alexandrov (USA) 1:00.58, 1; Glenn Snyders (NZL) 1:00.74, 2; Scott Dickens (CAN) 1:00.79, 3.

50m backstroke: Masafumi Yamaguchi (JPN) 25.34, 1; Daniel Arnamnart (AUS) 25.41, 2; Daniel Bell (NZL) 25.52, 3. Also: Gareth Kean (NZL) 25.94, 6.