Swimming: Gichard misses qualifying standard

Bobbi Gichard in action.

Hawke's Bay swimmer Bobbi Gichard last night missed out on qualifying for the Olympic Games 100m backstroke.

Competing in the final of the event at the New Zealand Open Championships in Auckland, Gichard, 16, finished second to Auckland United's Gabrielle Fa'amausili. Gichard, who now swims for the Howick Pakuranga club, had to stop the clock at 1m00.40s to qualify for Rio.

Her time of 1m00.85s was .03 of a second slower than her winning heat time yesterday morning. Fa'amausili was .02 of a second faster than Gichard.

"Bobbi is a very disappointed young girl. Her first 50m was half a second slower than in the heat and that killed it for her," her former Greendale club coach Noel Hardgrave-Booth, who was among the spectators, said.

"She's got her 200 m backstroke tomorrow [today] and we've got high hopes she will qualify in that. I'm confident she will bounce back well in the final of the 200, but she never bounces back well in the heats of the 200 when they are staged the day after her 100 final," Hardgrave-Booth added.

Former Napier Girls' High School student Gichard, HB 2015 Secondary Schools Sportsperson of the Year, is hoping to go to Rio to get valuable experience at that level as part of her quest to be among the medal winners at the 2020 Olympics in Japan.

Hawke's Bay's Willy Benson missed out on the 50m freestyle Olympic qualifying time of 22.2s when he finished third in Wednesday night's final. The Heretaunga Sundevils swimmer stopped the clock at 23.17s.

Howick Pakuranga's Daniel Hunter won the final in 22.41s and Parnell's Nielsen Varoy was second in 23.08s.

A member of the New Zealand 4 x 100m freestyle relay team which finished 11th overall at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, Benson, will attempt to qualify in the 100m freestyle today. He has to go under 50s.

In 2008 his split time in the relay was 48.65s.