Swimming: Mates clash in the pool

Only one of the buddies manages to book a trip to the Athens Games, DAVID LEGGAT reports



Cameron Gibson and Scott Talbot-Cameron are good mates, but there are times you don't want your buddies around.

They grew beards as part of their Olympic trial preparations, the thinking being that shaving them off just before the start might translate into time shaved off in the water.

Last night, Talbot-Cameron could be forgiven for wishing someone had pinched Gibson's razor as he dipped out on a place in the 100m backstroke at the Athens Olympics.

The rules at the national championships at the Waitakere pool in Henderson - which double as the Olympic trial - allow for two swimmers to qualify if they both go under world governing body Fina's A standard.

Gibson did it on Wednesday night, clocking 55.39s in the semifinals, edging out Talbot-Cameron's 55.88s, which would have been good enough as a Swimming New Zealand B standard if Gibson had been elsewhere.

In last night's final, Talbot-Cameron had to beat the Fina A time of 55.63s.

He led at the 50m turn, but Gibson cut him down in the closing stages to win in 55.52s, eclipsing the Fina A standard a second time.

Talbot-Cameron's time of 55.97s was just 0.34s outside the A standard, but there was no doubting Gibson's class.

He had intended helping to pull his mate through to an A standard time, but the plan went awry.

"I think I paced myself a bit too much, which was a mistake," Gibson said of his first 50m.

"I'm sorry Scott didn't make it, but I guess he's still got the relay."

That relay, the 4x100m medley, is on Sunday night in the final session. Talbot-Cameron will lead off, with the leg counting as an Olympic qualifying performance for the 100m backstroke.

It might have been galling for Talbot-Cameron that he twice achieved the Swimming NZ standard but still missed out, but he was philosophical.

"I just couldn't put the whole race together, which is a bit upsetting," he said. "I swam well, everything was going pretty good - I just couldn't finish it off."

Talbot-Cameron had set his sights on doing the time last night.

"There were a few little things I thought I could tweak to get a little extra speed. Unfortunately, I got a bit over-anxious in the first 45m and kicked my legs a bit hard, and paid the price in the last 15-20m."

The North Shore star turns of the opening finals night on Wednesday were at it again last night.

Hannah McLean went under the Fina A time again in winning the 100m backstroke final. She clocked 1min 02.00s - 0.42s under the A standard, but fractionally slower than her initial qualifying time on Wednesday.

North Shore's Elizabeth Coster was second, 1.03s outside a Games qualifying mark.

Corney Swanepoel backed up his 100m butterfly qualifying effort in the semifinals by winning the final in 53.31s, 0.18s better than the Fina standard. He was one second quicker than rival Moss Burmester, of Tauranga, who finished second.

Alison Fitch, hoping to qualify in the 100m freestyle, was 0.58s outside the Swimming NZ mark in winning her semifinal in 56.64s, but 0.93s quicker than in her opening heat swim.

In the 4x100m freestyle relay, the final event of the night, she clocked 56.96s as lead-off, in a second unsuccessful attempt at the Swimming NZ standard.