KEY POINTS:
BEIJING - Moss Burmester sent ripples of excitement through the New Zealand Olympic Games team today, when he belted it out with the greatest swimmer of all time on his way to courageous fourth in the 200m butterfly final.
Burmester, 27, showed no fear at the Water Cube, when he led American Michael Phelps through the first 50m on world record pace, trailed him by .03 seconds at the 100m, and still held second with 50m to go.
Just as New Zealand hopes climbed that Burmester was on his way to the podium, they were dashed as the frantic pace took a toll and he faded down the stretch to fourth.
Commonwealth Games champion Burmester ended up empty handed, yet his effort sent a buzz of excitement through the New Zealand team - many of them poolside, others crammed around TV sets in the Olympic Village.
Text messages carrying the news fired around the team, all over Beijing and to outposts such as Qingdao, where the yachties are doing battle.
It was just what the New Zealand athletes needed, said chef de mission Dave Currie.
"He's sparked it up," Currie said.
"It was an unbelievably brave swim, he's not going to die wondering, that's for sure."
Currie was at the pool for the race, the first swimming final since 1996 to set aside a lane for a New Zealander.
When he returned to the Olympic Village, he found 20 athletes in the team lounge still buzzing about what Burmester had done.
"People are admiring what he did - the Games' best swimmer, and he took it to him. It's just a fantastic swim and the place is abuzz with absolute pride," Currie said.
"That was almost a perfect performance. It is something you look for early in the Games. It fires up people, success feeds off success."
Fourth is often touted as the toughest place to finish in an Olympic final, so Burmester could expect a lot of support from his teammates, Currie said.
Phelps swept away to his fourth gold of the Games, and a world-record 10th over two Games, smashed the world record, then returned to the pool for another gold in 4 x 200m relay.
Burmester was left only the satisfaction of lowering his New Zealand record to one minute 54.35 seconds, from 1min 55.99sec, and that he'd left nothing on the line in the biggest race of his life.
"I left everything in the pool", he said.
"I'm not sure what the splits were. I was hoping for a little bit quicker than that. I couldn't have done anything more."
Teammate Glenn Snyders could not emulate Burmester in the men's 200m breaststroke, swimming 2min 12.07sec for eighth in his semifinal, and 16th overall.
Weightlifter Richard Patterson was the only other New Zealander in action this morning.
He was below his best in finishing ninth in Olympic men's 77kg Group B competition.
Patterson managed a best of 130kg in the snatch discipline and 170kg in the clean and jerk for a total of 300kg, heading off five other lifters in the 14-man group.
The 14 elite Group A lifters must compete tonight before Patterson knows his final finishing position.
- NZPA
