Matthew Stanley hopes he has learned from his mistakes as he prepares for July's world swimming championships in Barcelona.
The tall, lean Matamata freestyler was below par in his 200m and 400m events at the London Olympics, and even though he finished fourth and sixth in the 400m and 200m freestyle at the world shortcourse champs in Istanbul in December - in both cases less than a second off third place - he wasn't happy with his efforts there either.
"I swim because I want to do well and to achieve," Stanley said yesterday. "It was really about learning from my mistakes," he said of the London and Istanbul experiences. Events in Istanbul crystallised in his mind what he had to do.
The New Zealand team efforts - Lauren Boyle and, to an extent, Glenn Snyders excepted - were slammed in London. Stanley, 21 and in his second year of a business degree at Massey, reckons being harder on himself is a key element in his aspirations as distinct from a specific technical or mental aspect.
"I don't think it is mental or physical issues. Basically I had to become more competitive. Swimming is a tough sport and there's a lot of people who are extremely competitive.
