Swimming: Kiwi swimmers beaten, but proud

Swamped under a wave of world records and Australian patriotism at the Sydney Aquatic Centre, New Zealand swimmers emerged from the Olympic pool with pride intact.

Five national records fell to the eight-strong team of first-time Olympians, with Helen Norfolk (13th), Elizabeth van Welie (15th) and Dean Kent (16th) sealing their places in the world top 20.

Vivienne Rignall, 26, topped them all by speeding to ninth in the 50m freestyle, slashing .33 seconds off her own New Zealand mark.

Her time would have been good for fifth at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, while 200m butterfly swimmer van Welie and Kent, in the 200m individual medley, would have been seventh.

In Sydney, those efforts failed to raise a ripple as Australian Ian Thorpe, then Dutch pair Pieter van den Hoogenband and Inge de Bruijn headed a world record assault.

With New Zealand failing to provide an Olympic finalist for the first time since 1964, it was easy to get the impression that the world was swimming away.

That would be misleading, Kent told NZPA.

After breaking the New Zealand 200m and 400m individual medley records at the Games, Kent maintained the feats of the few had obscured the fate of the many.

Australian Olympic rookies had also found it tough going, with only 200m butterfly bronze medallist Justin Norris doing much of note.

``I think we can be really proud of our performances,'' Kent said.

But under the present system, the young Australian swimmers will get four years' support and top level competition before the Athens Olympics, while New Zealand swimmers will largely go without.

Assistant coach Jan Cameron wants to ensure that New Zealand does not take that course.

``At the moment that would be the case,'' she told NZPA.

Swimming had to look at rowing programmes that turned up gold medallist Rob Waddell to see whether they could be adapted, she said.

The team -- average age 19 -- was young, eager and focused and ``we're very pleased with them'', she said.

``We worked absolutely our butts off, harder than we've ever done before, that's money in the bank,'' she said.

But she feared all that hard work, plus experience gained in Sydney, would be lost unless the group were given more support.

Ways had to be found to keep them in the sport, Cameron said.

``They have to be given the time to develop. If they aren't we'll be in the same boat in four years' time.

``Where will we be then?''

Sports Foundation swimming funding was more than halved to $205,000 last year, following the sport's dismal effort at the 1998 Kuala Lumpur Commonwealth Games.

Rignall, who has international experience in Europe, said her teammates would do ``fine'' when they reached the average age of Olympic swimmers.

Most Sydney medallists were at least their second Games.

She accepted that Thorpe was only 17, but said he had had a lot of international racing, while her teammates had not.

Rignall, who trains in Germany with Olympic medallists Therese Alshammer of Sweden and German Sandra Voelker, said New Zealand swimmers should compete in European meetings.

That would help them get used to pressure, and getting beaten. Racing the best at home was not enough, she said.

``We were quite good. We did New Zealand records, we have never been swimming as fast as we did here -- which is really good,'' she said.

``We have to look at the facts and compare every swimmer with their personal best times.''

Among the facts are that Britain, whose team was said to be the best-prepared ever, failed to win a swimming medal for the first time since 1936.

Former swimming power Canada won just a bronze -- their second successive Games without a gold.

``It is not just New Zealand,'' Rignall said. ``You can find other examples, you just have to look around.''


- NZPA