Swimming: Norfolk off the pace in backstroke

Helen Norfolk bid a disappointing farewell to the Olympic pool on Thursday, swimming outside her best in the 200m backstroke heats.

Norfolk, 20, trailed a strong field throughout the first 150m, easing past one rival in the home stretch to clock 2 minutes 16.22 seconds.

Norfolk was almost a second off her best - 2min 15.37sec - and well outside the New Zealand record of 2min 10.62sec, set by Anna Simcic in 1991.

A swim marginally better than her previous best would have put her into Thursday night's semifinals, but she missed that goal by more than a second.

It was a backup event for Norfolk, who set a New Zealand 400m individual medley record earlier in the meeting.

Though did not shine out in backstroke during her two medley swims, coach Brett Naylor had high hopes for her, after good efforts in training.

New Zealand have only two more chances to avoid ending the Games without a finalist, the first time that has happened since 1964.

Jonathan Duncan will swim the heats of the 1500m on Friday morning. He has been slightly below his best in shorter events at the Games.

Germany based sprinter Vivienne Rignall will swim in the 50m freestyle heats, where she is a semifinal prospect.

- NZPA