Swimming: Disappointed Kent looks forward to Commonwealth Games

7.30am

ATHENS - New Zealand's Dean Kent was disappointed that he failed to kick on from his national record-breaking swim in the 200m individual medley heats when he contested the semifinals at the Athens Olympics tonight.

But Kent left the Olympic pool satisfied that he had improved his best times and was looking forward to campaigning towards the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne.

Kent finished seventh in his semifinal in a time of two minutes 1.94 seconds, ranking him 14th overall.

He had been seventh fastest qualifier for the semifinals after he slashed almost a second off his own New Zealand with a time of 2min 1.31sec in the heats.

Although it looked like Kent lost some momentum in the backstroke leg when he veered close to a lane rope, both he and coach Jan Cameron said his slow butterfly leg was actually the crucial factor in not swimming as fast as in the heats.

"I didn't feel a lot different tonight, but I was trying to keep up with the leaders and thought they were going a little faster than we did," he told NZPA.

"For me it's important to go out there and put the first 150 away, because I don't have the same express pace (at freestyle) as some of those guys do."

Laszio Cseh, of Hungary, won Kent's semifinal, 2.29sec ahead of the New Zealanjder, while American star Michael Phelps set an Olympic record of 1min 58.52sec when winning the other semifinal.

Kent, who also broke his own New Zealand 400m individual medley record on the opening day of the Olympics, said he made positive steps forward in Athens.

"I think the way this trend's going we've got a really strong chance of being one of the dominant forces in the Melbourne Commonwealth Games," he said.

"That's something I really want to be a part of and that's our goal. We've got some world championships and other meets to go, and after the Commonwealth Games we'll see how we're looking for Beijing (Olympics)."

Kent was the only New Zealand swimmer to advance beyond the heats today.

Alison Fitch, a 1996 Olympian, was 21st in the women's 100m freestyle heats with her time of 51.29sec and Cameron Gibson was 20th in the men's 200m backstroke heats in 2min 2.65sec.

The women's 4x200m freestyle relay team of Helen Norfolk, Alison Fitch, Rebecca Linton and Nathalie Bernard ranked 13th with their time of 8min 14.76sec.

- NZPA