KEY POINTS:
BEIJING - Glenn Snyders couldn't emulate his New Zealand record swim from a night earlier as he bowed out in the Olympic 200m breaststroke semifinals here today.
Snyders still swam the second-fastest time of his life but it was only enough for eighth in the first semifinal and an overall ranking of 16th.
Last night he smashed his own record by nearly two seconds in swimming two minutes 11.19 seconds; today it was 2min 12.07sec.
Japan's Kosuke Kitajima won Snyders' heat and was fastest qualifier in 2min 08.61sec.
"I knew they were going to go quick but I didn't expect that time last night, it was a bit of a shock but I was glad I got through," Snyders said.
"I tried to follow it up this morning but it wasn't meant to be. I'm happy with that swim, the second-best time for me. Well under the old New Zealand record (2:13.05) so I'm just stoked."
He was more relaxed than his disappointing 100m butterfly effort, when he was 0.5sec outside his personal best to be 20th fastest.
"I was a bit disappointed with how I went in the 100m but that just came down to nerves." he said.
"I went too hard in the first 50m and it led to fatigue in the second 50m.
"Last night I was a lot more relaxed and the first 100m felt really easy and I had a lot left."
Today, Snyders swam about half-an-hour after compatriot Moss Burmester's gut-busting effort for fourth in the 200m butterfly final, and while he didn't watch it on television it still had an effect.
"I was lying down on the mats but I saw it on the scoreboard, I was watching the splits... yeah, a great swim."
Now it's the 4x100m medley relay on Friday and Snyders was excited about their prospects after the 4x100m freestyle relay team smashed their national record, but still couldn't qualify.
"Our hopes are to make the final and see where it goes from there. Everyone's looking sharp so it should be a good relay.
"If we can produce something special like the guys' freestyle then we'll definitely be in the final."
- NZPA
