NZ Summer Swim Championships Day 1 heats
Australian world record-holder Marieke Guehrer from Australia showed her class on the opening morning of the New Zealand summer championships in Christchurch today.
Guehrer, from Melbourne, won the overall honours at the recent FINA World Cup circuit where kiwi Melissa Ingram also starred, with the pair gaining top billing at the short course championships.
Guehrer topped qualifiers for the 50m butterfly and 100m freestyle while Ingram cruised through the heats of the 200m backstroke ahead of Australian Grace Loh and clubmates Jessie Blundell and Penelope Marshall.
Veteran Dean Kent, who retired from international competition after Beijing, has returned, qualifying second fastest behind West Auckland Olympian Daniel Bell in heats of the 100m individual medley.
“That was about as far as I could swim,” said Kent. “I decided three weeks ago to compete and got back into the pool for the first time, so it’s a struggle that’s for sure.
“No I could not swim the 400m medley or I would probably sink,” he joked.
Olympian mark Herring (West Auckland) needed a scratching to qualify for the finals of the 100m freestyle. He produced a blistering 22.4s for the first 50m, close to the national record, and tired naturally to clock 47.97, the 11th fastest for the 10-lane final.
But after a withdrawal he has a chance to claim the honours from the outside lane ahead of fellow Beijing teammates William Benson (North Shore) and Cameron Gibson (United) along with Australian Lloyd Townsing tonight.
Beijing star Moss Burmester eased back into competition in the 200m butterfly, qualifying third fastest behind North Shore clubmates Andrew McMillan and Shaun Burnett.
“I’ve swim in one of my old, old suits because I thought it would be a battle to get into my new ones. I have put on some weight after Beijing and have only been back into serious training for about a month. This week is a bit of a hit out to get back into competition mode again and the hard work is all ahead of me.”
Thew first session of finals is tonight from 6pm with the championships finishing on Saturday.