Swimming: Capp breaks NZ record at worlds

Nathan Capp

Tauranga's Nathan Capp was one of three New Zealand swimmers to set new national records at the Fina World Championships in Kazan, Russia, that finished on Sunday.

He also came close to beating another national best time.

Capp set a New Zealand record in the heats of the men's 800m freestyle. The 22-year-old, based at Swimming New Zealand's High Performance Centre, was fifth in his heat in 7m 57.61s to better his own record.

His time was the 20th fastest and, while he missed out on qualifying, he improved his world ranking by more than 30 places, enhancing his prospects for Olympic qualification.

He also produced a respectable performance to finish 21st fastest in the heats of the 1500m freestyle on the penultimate day of the championships, clocking 15m 17.77s, just two seconds outside his national record.

Capp was on national record pace to the 1100m mark, but his pace slowed a fraction before finishing strongly over the final 100m.

On the last day of competition, in the 400m medley, Capp was 28th fastest in 4m 23.00s.

New Zealand coach Gary Hurring said the championships had been a vital learning opportunity for most of the squad who were experiencing a world championship for the first time,

The experience of performing on this stage will stand them in good stead as they move into an important 12 months to Rio and on to Tokyo in 2020, he added.