Boyle chases podium at world swimming championships

New Zealand’s top performed swimmer at the London Olympics, Lauren Boyle, is hoping to go one better at the FINA World Short Course Championships in Turkey next week.

The 24 year old has already left for Europe with coach Mark Regan to ensure she is well acclimatised for the five-day meet at Sinan Erdem Dome in Istanbul, where drop-in pools have been erected in the arena used for major events including Euro Football, the world basketball championships, WTA tennis and major concerts.

Boyle finished fourth in the 800m freestyle in London and hopes to push on to the podium in the 25m world championships where she has entered the 200, 400m and 800m freestyle.

The six New Zealand swimmers are led by Olympians Boyle, her North Shore clubmate Melissa Ingram (North Shore) and Matamata’s Matthew Stanley. They are joined by Howick Pakuranga club teenagers Ewan Jackson and Corey Main along with Australian-based Christchurch sprinter Cameron Simpson.

Two swimmers who qualified, North Shore’s Glenn Snyders and Sophia Batchelor (AquaGym, Christchurch), have both opted out of the championships. Snyders, who qualified during the recent FINA World Cup circuit, wants to focus on next year’s world long course championships while Batchelor, the sole 2011 representative, has been focussing on school studies.

Around 900 swimmers are expected to compete in Turkey including Olympic champions Ryan Lochte (USA), France’s Florent Manaudou, Italian Federica Pellegrini and Hungarian Laszlo Cseh.

New Zealand has won eight individual and two relay medals at the world short course championships over the last 20 years, with the last coming at Manchester in 2008 when Moss Burmester won the gold medal in the 200m butterfly and the men’s medley relay combination on a bronze medal.

The top ranked New Zealand swimmer is Boyle, who is ranked sixth in the world this year in the 800m freestyle with her national record 8:15.73, while Ingram is seventh in 2012 over the 200m backstroke set during the recent World Cup meet in Beijing.

Ingram, 27, sparked her international career when she won the bronze medal at the 200m backstroke at the 2004 world short course championships in Indianapolis.

The balance of the team heads to Turkey on Thursday with the championship starting next Wednesday.