With the New Zealand Swimming Championships all said and done the nation will be taken 10 athletes to the World Championships in Kazan. The team will include:
Bradlee Ashby (Fairfield, Waikato), Lauren Boyle (United), Nathan Capp (Greerton), Bobbi Gichard (Greendale, Hawkes Bay), Corey Main (Howick Pakuranga, University of Florida), Kane Radford (Rotorua), Emma Robinson (Capital, Wellington), Glenn Snyders (North Shore, Trojans USA), Matthew Stanley (Matamata) and Charlotte Webby (Aquabladz, Taranaki)
The number of athletes attending this year’s event is the exact same that participated at the last World Championships in Bracelona.
“It is a good number of individual qualifiers,” commented Swimming New Zealand High Performance Director Luis Villanueva.
”We have some qualifying for the first time which is encouraging. Some who qualified in relays and weak criteria last time have stood up and qualified with the top swimmers.”
“It is good to have Brad (Ashby) and Bobbi (Gichard) in the team. Some of the other younger ones who did not qualify have swum well and are on track to qualify for the World Junior Championships at the national age group championships in four weeks.
“It is good for them to experience the world championships and the top level of racing a year out from the Olympics although I think one or two others can also qualify next year.”
Nathan Capp provided one of the highlights of the final day of competition taking the men’s 1500 freestyle in a time of 15:15.50. Capp’s time beat his own national record time of 15:22.83, which makes three national records overall in the competitions. He had already set marks in the 800 freestyle and 400 IM.
“It’s been a stellar week for me,” said Capp.
“The time for the 1500m is good but I am a little gutted because I wanted to make two A qualifying times but I can’t really complain because I’ve had an awesome week.”
“I’ve really stepped up a lot since the end of last year. I felt it was time to make that jump and I am happy I was able to do it.”
Sophie Pascoe also won the 50 freestyle, her fifth gold of the competition. Pascoe, who has set two new world records during the competition, took the event in a time of 28.22 about half a second away from her S-10 world record mark of 27.78.
Along with the team going to Kazan New Zealand will have eight athletes competing in the IPC World Championships in Glasgow. The team will include:
Rebecca Dubber (North Shore), Mary Fisher (Capital), Georgia Gray (North Shore), Nikita Howarth (Te Awamutu), Cameron Leslie (Laser Mt Eden), Hamish McLean (Wanaka), Sophie Pascoe (QEII, Christchurch) and Jesse Reynolds (Fairfield, Waikato)
Medal winners on the final night of competition include:
Women 200m backstroke: Bobbi Gichard (Greendale) 2:14.08, Sophia Batchelor (Aquagym) 2:14.67, Kate Godfrey (Neptune) 2:14.99
Men 100m freestyle: Daniel Hunter (Howick Pakuranga) 49.89, Corey Main (Howick Pakuranga) 50.13, Sam Perry (St Peter’s) 50.67
Women 400m individual medley: Helena Gasson (Fairfield) 4:51.70, Yeonsu Lee (North Shore) 4:59.71, Rachel Smith (North Shore) 5:02.27
Men 1500m freestyle: Nathan Capp (Greerton) 15.15.50, (NZ Record); Michael Dai (Coast) 15:26.40, Michael Mincham (Waterhole) 15:35.03
Women 50m freestyle: Laura Quilter (North Shore) 26.12, Gabrielle Fa’amausili (Roskill) 26.20, Annmarie Temo (North Shore) 26.42
Men 50m backstroke: Daniel Blackborrow (Visitor, Australia) 26.50, Corneille Coetzee (North Shore) 26.52, Andrew Trembath (Neptune) 26.78 Cameron James (Neptune) 26.91
Women 50m breaststroke: Natasha Lloyd (North Canterbury) 32.81, Kendall Reidy (Central Hawkes Bay) 33.56, Bronagh Ryan (Porirua City) 33.71
Para Swimmers:
Men 100m freestyle: Jesse Reynolds (Fairfield) 1:01.43, Christopher Arbuthnott (Ice Breaker) 1:02.61, Daniel Gaualofa (Bay of Islands) 1:00.46
Women 50m freestyle: Sophie Pascoe (QEII) 28.84, (Qualified IPC World Championships); Georgia Gray (North Shore) 31.07, Tupou Neifu (Howick Pakuranga) 31.35
Men 50m backstroke: Christopher Arbuthnott (Ice Breaker) 33.50, Daniel Gaualofa (Bay of Islands) 33.71, Cameron Leslie (Laser Mt Eden) 43.05
