Swimming: Praise despite costly mistake

New Zealand swimmer Helen Norfolk expected a serve from coach Jan Cameron for making the mistake that cost her a spot in an Olympic Games final, yet what she got was praise.

Norfolk, 22, messed up her last turn, to miss making the final of the 400m Individual Medley by a paltry .06 second.

"I'm sure I lost it on the freestyle turn, and I'm quite sure my coach is going to tell me some other things I could have worked on," she said.

But Cameron was in no mood to berate her. "She swam really well and finished No 1 in the Commonwealth," she said.

"The turn cost her but now she is just concentrating on getting ready for the next event. She did a great job to lift from 18th in the world to ninth - it's the Olympics we are talking about here - I think it was a great effort."

After targeting the NZ record set by Liz van Welie at the 2002 Commonwealth Games, Norfolk came up .65s short with her 4m 45.21s.

"It felt a bit faster than what it was," she said. "I'm happy because I'm absolutely dead so I must have tried my hardest."

Dean Kent opened the New Zealand Olympic swimming campaign in style, smashing his own national record in the 400m individual medley heats.

His 4m 18.55s broke by .49s the New Zealand record he set almost three years ago. Kent, 25, was delighted with the swim but it was not good enough to get him into the final. He was 13th fastest in the heats, with Michael Phelps posting 4m 13.29s.

Elizabeth Coster, 21, was eliminated when 23rd fastest in the heats of the 100m butterfly in 1m 00.61s.

Butterfly specialist Moss Burmester, 23, swam a personal best in the 400m freestyle, his back-up event. He was a little disappointed with his 3m 57.29s. Burmester was 28th fastest in a field headed by Grant Hackett and Ian Thorpe. Ben Labowitch was third in his 100m breaststroke heat, in 1m 3.99s.

- NZPA