Swimming: Swanepoel, McLean into semifinals

By EUGENE BINGHAM

A breath-taking personal best and the first appearance of the star of the New Zealand swim team lifted Kiwi hopes at the Olympic Aquatic Centre tonight.

North Shore swimmers Hannah McLean and Corney Swanepoel both made the semifinals of their events with contrasting performances.

McLean put behind the disappointment of her 100m backstroke, when she swam below her best, to post a top time in the 200m backstroke and qualify ninth fastest in the next round, due to be swum early Friday.

If she makes the final, it will be at 4.30am Saturday(NZ time).

Her time of 2m 13.33s was a personal best.

Swanepoel, ranked number six in the world in his event, raced away in the first half of his 100m butterfly heat, but ended up seventh with a time of 53.07s.

But because he swam in one of the fastest heats, it was enough for him to qualify 15th fastest for the semifinal, also due to be swum overnight.

If he lifts his performance and makes the final, he will race at 4.40am Saturday (NZ time).

Swanepoel said he felt strong in the first 25m, touching the wall in third place.

"But in the last 25m, the wheels fell off."

US sensation Michael Phelps won the heat in 52.35s while world record holder Ian Crocker won the next heat in 52.03s.

The New Zealander said he had not been too worried lining up next to Phelps.

"You don't try to think about Michael Phelps as Michael Phelps. He is an awesome athlete but you don't want to be thinking, 'there's a legend in the making right next to me'. You try to think of him as another competitor."

McLean, said she felt incredibly nervous before her race because of the disappointment in the 100m.

"It took a lot of soul-searching to see what went wrong in the 100. After my race I was numb for half an hour.

"But I was just determined not to miss the opportunity of swimming a great time in the Olympics."