Swimming: Rising stars start to make waves

Robert Voss, John Zulch and William Benson made the most of their chances at the Oceania champs. Pictures / Sarah Ivey

New Zealand's next generation of Commonwealth and Olympic swimmers have had the chance to test themselves internationally after competing at the Oceania Swimming Championships in Cairns this week.

New Zealand won 37 individual medals at the meet, 19 of them won by swimmers who had not previously participated at Olympic or Commonwealth level.

Head coaches Thomas Ansorg and Donna Bouzaid took a squad of 36 to northern Queensland, with only Dean Kent, Liz Coster, Glenn Snyders, Corney Swanepoel and Lauren Boyle present from the Melbourne Commonwealth Games team.

The meet was used to blood the "next wave" of New Zealand swimming talent and provide them with valuable top level experience.

Most of New Zealand's top swimmers sat out the championships in favour of some rest following a hectic 18-month schedule which included the Commonwealth Games and World Short Course Championships this year.

One of the up-and-coming talents is 15-year-old North Shore swimmer Jessie Blundell.

North Shore swimming mentor Jan Cameron believes Blundell is coming along well after winning two bronze medals in her favoured backstroke discipline.

"For a 15-year-old to be able to swim at that level shows she is something special," Cameron said.

Swimming New Zealand high performance director Clive Rushton picked out Mt Eden's Kurt Bassett as a "very impressive swimmer" who had a great championships, breaking several age group records.

Bassett won silver and bronze in the 200m and 100m backstroke respectively and the 16-year-old is equally strong at freestyle.

Although not young, at 23, Robert Voss is another North Shore swimmer who used the Oceania championships to gain some valuable international experience.

Rushton believes Voss is "progressing very nicely" as New Zealand's top freestyle swimmer.

Voss felt ill throughout the championships but still picked up two individual silver medals as well as two in the relay.

"I decided I wasn't going to use it as an excuse and just got on with it," Voss said.

The more experienced trio of Swanepoel, Snyders and Boyle have also continued their development and have shown why they are seen as the future of the sport.

Swanepoel, the eldest of the three at 20, was named male swimmer of the meet after winning gold in the 50m and 100m butterfly.

Snyders won gold in the 50m and 100m breaststroke, improving on his times from the Commonwealth Games, where he reached two semifinals. He also picked up a bronze medal in his less-favoured 200m event.

Cameron is full of praise for the 19-year-old who she believes has progressed incredibly since his performances in Melbourne in March.

The most impressive of the trio for Rushton is freestyle specialist Boyle, 18, who he believes is technically New Zealand's best young swimmer.

Boyle, of West Auckland Aquatics, picked up five individual medals in Cairns - two gold and three bronze - to make her New Zealand's most successful swimmer at the Oceania event.

The next meet for New Zealand's elite swimmers is the Pan-Pacific Championships in Canada next month, part of a build-up towards the World Championships in Melbourne in March.

Of the newcomers who competed in Cairns, Brynn Murphy, Ben Pickersgill-Brown, Michael Jack and the North Shore duo of John Zulch and Voss have been selected in the 18-strong squad for Canada.

The meet will also see the return of New Zealand's most successful swimmers including Moss Burmester, Hannah McLean and Cameron Gibson.

For the new talent, high-level competition in the form of the World Youth Championships is the next event on the calendar as they build towards joining this group in the elite level.

Although Beijing next year may be too soon for these swimmers, Rushton believes the New Delhi Commonwealth Games in 2010 and the London Olympics in 2012 are definite possibilities.