Swimming New Zealand has announced its official rosters for this summer’s Commonwealth Games and the Pan Pacific Championships, with the two 16-person rosters featuring mostly the same names.
World Championship bronze medalist Lauren Boyle is at the heart of both teams, holding down the distance freestyle slots and representing one of the country’s top medal threats.
For Pan Pacs in nearby Australia, other individual qualifiers in the pool are breaststroker Glenn Snyders, mid-distance freestyler Matthew Stanley, Florida Gator Corey Main, freestyler Emma Robinson and 14-year-old backstroke talents Gabrielle Fa’amausili and Bobbi Gichard. Added to that list are Kane Radford and Charlotte Webby, who were selected as open water swimmers after the BHP Billiton Aquatic Super Series two months ago.
The Commonwealth Games team looks much the same, only without the two open water specialists and without the age group backstrokers. Included in their places are relay swimmers Laura Quilter and Ellen Quirke, plus para-athletes Nikita Howarth and Sophie Pascoe. (The Para-Pan Pac meet is a separate team as the meet is held in Pasadena, California).
New Zealand has also noted that Fa’amausili and Gichard will swim at the National Age Group Championships next month where they could qualify for the Youth Olympic Games and/or the Junior Pan Pacs meet, meaning their availability for Pan Pacs could change moving forward.
Quotes from New Zealand High Performance Director Luis Villanueva on the Swimming New Zealand site suggest the team will put the major focus on the Commonwealth Games, likely just extending a taper a few more weeks for the Pan Pacific Championships.
“The Commonwealth Games is very important to us for sure and is a first major focus,” Villanueva said in this Swimming New Zealand release. “This will be a challenge for swimmers from Commonwealth countries to peak for Glasgow and then perform three weeks later in Australia. We will need to prepare very thoroughly and monitor our swimmers closely after the Commonwealth Games.”
Below are the full rosters for each meet. You can also find them on the Swimming New Zealand site here:
Commonwealth Games roster release
Pan Pacific Championships roster release
Commonwealth Games Team:
Lauren Boyle (United, Auckland) 200m freestyle, 400m freestyle, 800m freestyle, 4x200m freestyle relay
Mitchell Donaldson (North Shore, Auckland) 4x200m freestyle
Dylan-Dunlop Barrett (Coast, Auckland) 4x200m freestyle relay
Tash Hind (Capital, Wellington) 4x200m freestyle relay
Nikita Howarth (Te Awamutu, Waikato) para S8 100m freestyle
Ewan Jackson (Howick Pakuranga, Counties Manukau) 4x200m freestyle relay
Steven Kent (Coast, Auckland) 4x200m freestyle relay
Samantha Lee (Capital, Wellington) 4x200m freestyle relay, 4 x 100 freestyle relay
Samantha Lucie-Smith (Capital, Wellington) 4x200m freestyle relay, 4 x 100 freestyle relay
Corey Main (Howick-Pakuranga, Counties Manukau) 100m backstroke
Sophie Pascoe (QEII, Canterbury) para SM10 200m individual medley, SB9 100m breaststroke
Laura Quilter (North Shore, Auckland) 4 x 100m freestyle relay
Ellen Quirke (Capital, Wellington) 4 x 100m freestyle relay
Emma Robinson (Capital, Wellington) 4x200m freestyle relay
Matthew Stanley (Matamata, Waikato) 400m freestyle, 4x200m freestyle relay
Glenn Snyders (North Shore, Auckland) 100m breaststroke, 200m breaststroke
Pan Pacs Team:
Lauren Boyle (United, Auckland),
Mitchell Donaldson (North Shore, Auckland)
Dylan-Dunlop Barrett (Coast, Auckland)
Gabrielle Fa’amausili (Roskill, Auckland)
Bobbi Gichard (Greendale, Hawkes Bay)
Tash Hind (Capital, Wellington)
Ewan Jackson (Howick Pakuranga, Counties Manukau)
Steven Kent (Coast, Auckland)
Samantha Lee (Capital, Wellington)
Samantha Lucie-Smith (Capital, Wellington)
Corey Main (Howick-Pakuranga, Counties Manukau)
Kane Radford (Rotorua), Matthew Stanley (Matamata, Waikato)
Emma Robinson (Capital, Wellington)
Glenn Snyders (North Shore, Auckland)
Charlotte Webby (AquaBladz, Taranaki)
