14th FINA World Championships - Day two wrap

Wellington teenager Gareth Kean swam his way to a New Zealand record and a place in the finals to highlight day two of the FINA World Swimming Championships in Shanghai.

The 19 year old recorded 53.69s to snip nearly 2/10ths of a second off Daniel Bell’s national record set at the 2009 world championships in Rome.

The lanky Capital Club swimmer stormed home over the last 50m to finish third in the second semifinal to claim the eighth and final spot in tomorrow’s final.

He edged out Beijing bronze medallist Hayden Stoeckel by 1/100th of a second for the final spot in the final, and with Ben Treffers missing out from the first semifinal, Kean bettered both.

Coach Gary Hurring was delighted with the efforts from his young charge.

“I would have to give him a 10-out-of-10 for effort and he looked fantastic. It was very tough here with so many swimmers within 0.5 of each other and he did what it took to make the final,” Hurring said.

“He seems to be going from strength to strength with every race.”

Hurring said that the Swimming New Zealand sports science team and strength conditioners have helped work with him on improving starts and turns which were identified as Kean’s weaknesses in Delhi where he won the silver medal.

“We have done a lot of work with myself and the support team not just on starts but on turns, underwater dolphin kicks and getting more power off the walls. There was a 0.4s improvement from his race analysis from what he did in the same race at the Pan Pacific Championship which was previously his best 100m race.

“He’s proved himself as someone able to lift for the big occasion. He likes to keep things quite light. He is really having a great time and enjoying himself and the atmosphere here. It’s amazing that this 19 year old is mixing it up with the best in the world.

“You have to remember that this is still not, at this point, his preferred event. He has the 200m backstroke on Thursday so it’s great to see the 100 is improving. I know it will become a very good event for him and with more strength he is going to get faster and faster.”

Kean clocked 53.89 to record the sixth fastest time in morning heats to comfortably move through to the semifinals.

He shared the time with Treffers, the son of New Zealand 1974 gold medal winner Mark Treffers who has been living across the Tasman for many years.

It was a disappointment for New Zealand record-holder Daniel Bell who was below his best in 54.75 for the 23rd fastest time to miss out on a place in the semifinal.

In other heat swims in the morning, the experienced Melissa Ingram, preparing for her main event in the 200m backstroke, was an agonising 9/100th of a second off qualifying in the 100m backstroke. She clocked 1:01.48, half a second outside her best this year, to record the 17th fastest time to miss out on an evening swim by one place.

Earlier Matt Stanley, 19, from the Matamata club now swimming under Scott Talbot at Swimming New Zealand’s High Performance Centre, produced a big personal best in the 200m freestyle. He recorded 1:48.93 for the 23rd fastest time and the first time under the 1:50 barrier as he closes within 1.3 seconds of Danyon Loader’s long standing national record.

In tomorrow’s action Glenn Snyders competes in the 50m breaststroke, Lauren Boyle in heats of the 200m freestyle and Dylan Dunlop-Barrett in heats of the 800m freestyle, along with Kean in the final of the 100m backstroke.

Day 2 semifinal qualifiers, New Zealand results:

Men 100m backstroke, qualifiers: Jeremy Stravius (FRA)52.76, 1; Ryosuke Irie (JPN) 53.05, 2; Camille Lacourt (FRA) 53.09, 3. Also: Gareth Kean 53.69, 8 (NZ Record).

New Zealand performances, heats:

Women 100m backstroke: Melissa Ingram 1:01.48, 17.
Men 200m freestyle: Matt Stanley 1:48.93, 23.
Men 100m backstroke: Gareth Kean 53.89, equal 6; Daniel Bell 54.75, 23.