New Zealand Swimmers Leave Best Until Last in Trans Tasman Series

New Zealand Swimmers Leave Best Until Last in Trans Tasman Series

12 July 2010, 11:23AM
Femme

The New Zealand swim team saved their best until last with a strong performance in the final meet of the Trans Tasman Test series in Masterton.

They picked up four wins and 11 other podium placings to finish second in the final test this morning with victories to the Canterbury pair of Sophia Batchelor and Natasha Lloyd and the Howick-Pakuranga duo of Jeffrey Arona-Tuifana’e and Corey Main.

The six-test series pitted two Australian teams and one from New Zealand in the 14-18 years age group with two tests each at Mt Maunganui, Taupo and Masterton.

Australia Gold won the overall honours after besting their rivals in all six tests with New Zealand producing their best in the final two meets in Masterton.

Batchelor, 15, from the AquaGym club in Christchurch, was the outstanding New Zealand individual of the series with four wins and six other placings along with four new national age group records.

The 15 year old has the potential to follow on from the last great backstroke star from the AquaGym club in Anna Simcic-Forrest, the Commonwealth Games gold medallist and Olympic finalist.

The young backstroker, who went under the one minute barrier in the 100m for the first time, will not get much respite to soak up her success this week. She now builds up for her toughest international test of the year at the Junior Pan Pacific Championships in Hawaii in six weeks.

Lloyd, 14, is the youngest on the team but one who displayed growing maturity in the water, evolving to dominate the breaststroke competition at Taupo and Masterton with four wins. Lloyd, from the burgeoning Kaiapoi club in North Canterbury, set five national age group records in the process, held by Olympian and Canterbury’s last top breaststroker, Annabelle Carey.

Arona-Tuifana’e, 17, was the backbone of the team in and out of the water. The Howick-Pakuranga club star was the only New Zealander to be unbeaten in the series claiming eight victories to command the breaststroke competition at all distances. He broke three national records in the process and will now look to push into the open ranks to challenge Olympian Glenn Snyders.

His clubmate Main competed with a broken finger, suffered three weeks before the competition, but rose to the challenge with five wins in the tough backstroke competition to show both his considerable class and fortitude.

The other New Zealanders of note included Tauranga’s Nathan Capp (Greerton) who claimed six second placings in the individual medley while Christchurch 15-year-old Matthew Hutchins (Wharenui) had four placings including a notable victory in the final test over 800m in Masterton.

“This competition is a vital part of our development,” said Swimming New Zealand’s Trevor Nicholls. “This is the first serious international team competition for our best age groupers, and to have one of the world’s swimming powers just across the Tasman is an enormous opportunity.

“Our Tri-Series earlier in the year is a testing ground to select the best age groupers and this week has been huge in their development both in and out of the water.”

The best individual performance came from New Zealand’s Kotuku Ngawati, now swimming in Melbourne, who scored a world class 937 FINA points in the individual medley and looks a gilt-edged prospect.

Results Trans Tasman Swimming sixth test (NZL – New Zealand, GRE – Australia Green, GOL – Australia Gold):
Mixed 500m freestyle relay: Australia Gold 4.05.25, 1; Australia Green 4.06.98, 2; New Zealand 4.17.46, 3.
Men 200m freestyle: Cameron McEvoy (GRE) 1.51.25, 1; Matthew Roberts (GOL) 1.53.55, 2; Nick Gillum (NZL) 1.54.82, 3.
Women 100m freestyle: Kotuku Ngawati (GRE) 55.44, 1; Ami Matsuo (GRE) 56.57, 2; Adelaide Hart (GOL) 57.03, 3.
100m backstroke: Corey Main (NZL) 56.32, 1; Cooper Regan (GRE) 56.83, 2; Regan Leong (GOL) 57.64, 3.
Women 200m backstroke: Sophia Batchelor (NZL) 2.08.92, 1; Alicia Caldwell (GOL) 2:14.85, 2; Brydie Whitehead (NZL) 2.17.17, 3.
Men 800m freestyle: Matthew Levings (GRE) 8.10.20, 1; Matthew Hutchins (NZL) 8.17.04, 2; Matthew Jepson (GRE) 8:19.19, 3.
Women 400m freestyle: Sarah Pullen (GOL) 4:20.33, 1; Leah Neale (GOL) 4:21.64, 2; Phoebe Williams (NZL) 4:21.74, 3.
Men 100m breaststroke: Jeffrey Arona-Tuifana’e (NZL) 1:04.49, 1; Jack Packard (GRE) 1:05.14, 1; Brendan Micallef (GOL) 1:05.45, 3.
Women 200m breaststroke: Natasha Lloyd (NZL) 2:34.25, 1; Shelby Wilson (NZL) 2:40.58, 2; Hannah Beighton (GOL) 2:41.57, 3.
Men 200m butterfly: Hugo Morris (GRE) 2:01.26, 1; Regan Leong (GOL) 2:03.83, 2; Corneille Coetzee (NZL) 2:07.79, 3.
Women 100m butterfly: Vanessa Puhlmann (GOL) 1:01.21, 1; Kotuku Ngawati (GRE) 1:01.49, 2; Josie Kydd (NZL) 1:02.96, 3.
Men 200m medley: Eugene Tee (GOL) 2:05.89, 1; Cooper Rogers (GRE) 2:09.07, 2; Alex Williams (GRE) 2:09.86, 3.
Women 400m medley: Meg Bailey (GOL) 4:51.08, 1; Bianca Rowley (NZL) 4:53.58, 2; Carla Buchanan (GOL) 5:00.49, 3.
Men 400m freestyle relay: Australia Gold 3:24.72, 1; New Zealand 3:27.45, 2; Australia Green 3:28.28, 3.
Women 400m medley relay: Australia Gold 4:11.19, 1; New Zealand 4:18.61, 2; Australia Gold B 4:20.02, 3.
Points after 6 tests: Gold 832, Green 675, New Zealand 591.

Image: Sophia Batchelor (AquaGym) during the individual medley at the Trans Tasman Test series against Australia.

Credit: Swimming NZ

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