Swimming: Burmester heads NZ world champs bid

Moss Burmester is New Zealand's best chance for a medal at the world swimming championships starting this week in Rome. Photo / Kenny Rodger

North Shore's Moss Burmester is aiming this week to become only the fifth New Zealander to win a medal at the world swimming championships.

Burmester is part of a 10-strong New Zealand team which begins competition in Rome on Sunday, and hopes to add to the four medals won by New Zealanders since the world championships began in 1973.

Gary Hurring won a silver medal in the 200m backstroke at Berlin in 1978; Anthony Mosse was second in the 200m butterfly in Madrid in 1986; double Olympic gold medallist Danyon Loader won a silver and two bronzes at the Rome championships in 1994; while Trent Bray took bronze in the 200m freestyle at Perth in 1998.

Burmester, under the guidance of coach Thomas Ansorg, has found fresh enthusiasm and motivation following his fourth place in the 200m butterfly at the Beijing Olympics last year.

He also finished fourth at the last world championships in Melbourne two years ago in his favoured 200m butterfly, in which he is the world short course champion and Commonwealth Games champion.

Earlier this year Burmester blasted a Commonwealth record of 1min 53.14sec, faster than his Beijing best, in the trials for the world championships after a short build-up following his lengthy layoff after the Olympics.

He goes into Rome with the world's fourth fastest time for 2009 and is favoured to cruise into the finals in Rome this week.

Burmester also has rediscovered the 400m freestyle, after considerable technique work with Ansorg. He has also spent some weeks with renowned distance coach Denis Cotterell on the Gold Coast, and his best of 3min 48.35sec is likely to be good enough to make the final.

Burmester also set a personal best in the 100m butterfly where he hopes to make the final, although most New Zealand eyes will be on training mate Corney Swanepoel.

The 23-year-old has emerged through some difficult years with encouraging form over the 100m butterfly with his 51.61sec the 14th fastest in the world this year and third fastest in the Commonwealth.

Swanepoel will also contest the 50m butterfly along with teenager Daniel Bell, going in as 18th and 22nd fastest respectively in the world this year.

The most improved New Zealand swimmer last year was Glenn Snyders, who has developed over the past five years into a world class breaststroker.

He qualified in all three distances at the world championship trials and although he qualified for the final of the 200m at Beijing, it's the 100m in which he is expected to have his best chances.

The only real issue for the 21-year-old will be a troublesome knee injury which flared up at the trials. Snyders goes into the championships as the 30th fastest in the 50m breaststroke and 33rd fastest over 200m.

Andrew McMillan and Michael Jack go into the world championships ranked outside the top 50 fastest and may need to dip under the 1:47 mark to grab a semifinal berth. That would mark a not-inconsiderable drop from the bests of 1min 48.35sec and 1min 48.37sec they set in the trials.

Bell, a colourful and multi-talented teenager, who won three world junior titles last year, also showed his fighting spirit to make the team.

The Beijing relay backstroker had concentrated on butterfly leading up to the trials, but was edged by Swanepoel and Burmester in the trials despite going under the qualifying time. He finally cemented his spot for Rome in the 100m backstroke - the final event on the last day of the meet.

Kurt Bassett narrowly missed out on the Olympics, and has returned from swimming in the United States. An improvement on his 200m backstroke qualifying time of 1min 58.90sec into the 1min 57sec range could see him into the semifinals.

North Shore's Hayley Palmer is the only female in the team, qualifying in the 100m freestyle. She goes in with the 41st fastest time in the world this year and the eighth fastest in the Commonwealth and will likely need to go under the 54 second barrier to move into the finals.

The team is:

Kurt Bassett 200m backstroke; Daniel Bell 100m backstroke, medley relay; Moss Burmester 100m butterfly, 200m butterfly, 400m freestyle; Cameron Gibson medley relay; Michael Jack (West Auckland) 200m freestyle; Alannah Jury 10km open water swim; Andrew McMillan 200m freestyle; Hayley Palmer 100m freestyle; Glenn Snyders 50m, 100m, 200m breaststroke, medley relay; Corney Swanepoel 50m and 100m butterfly, medley relay.

- NZPA