KEY POINTS:
New Zealand's swimmer numbers at the Beijing Olympics were boosted to 15 today with the addition of a men's 4x100m freestyle relay team.
The quartet of Cameron Gibson (North Shore), William Benson (North Shore), Mark Herring (West Auckland Aquatics) and Orinoco Faamausili-Banse (Mt Eden) had qualified for the event, the New Zealand Olympic Committee said.
They were confirmed by world body Fina as one of the four fastest countries to fill the remaining places in the 16-strong field in Beijing, when the qualifying period ended yesterday.
The 12 fastest nations from the world championships qualified automatically.
Gibson, Benson, Herring and Faamausili-Banse produced a New Zealand record of three minutes 17.45 seconds at the Olympic trials, to qualify 16th overall, nearly one second faster than closest rivals Croatia.
Russia, the Netherlands and China posted quicker times than New Zealand and filled the three other spots up for grabs.
The 12 countries who gain automatic qualification were world champions the United States, Italy, France, South Africa, Australia, Sweden, Canada, Brazil, Great Britain, Germany, Switzerland and Japan.
New Zealand's swim squad for Beijing comprises seven swimmers in individual events as well as teams in the women's 4x200m freestyle, and men's 4x100m freestyle and medley relays.
- NZPA
