Swimming: Six named in NZ team for Olympics

12.30pm

Swimming New Zealand today named six swimmers who will compete at this year's Athens Olympics.

Cameron Gibson, Dean Kent, Corney Swanepoel, Moss Burmester, Hannah McLean and Helen Norfolk all bettered qualifying times at the national championships in Auckland last week.

They have had their nominations confirmed by the New Zealand Olympic Committee.

McLean, Kent, Gibson and Burmester all represented New Zealand at the 2002 Manchester Commonwealth Games, while Kent and Norfolk swam at the 2000 Sydney Olympics.

Another seven swimmers have been nominated for relay teams but their selection will depend on receiving an invitation, probably in June, from the world governing body FINA and the International Olympic Committee.

Those swimmers are Aucklanders Ben Labowitch, Scott Talbot-Cameron, Nathalie Bernard, Elizabeth Coster, Alison Fitch, Christchurch's Annabelle Carey and Rebecca Linton from Counties Manukau.

The swimmers will now take a brief break after the exertions of the national championships in Auckland before preparing for Athens in earnest.

National coach Clive Rushton said the swimmers would train in their home pools for most of the period before departure for Greece in late July.

However, there would be at least two and maybe three team camps as well.

The North Shore group would also head to the Oceania championships in Fiji next month, and most would then go on to a camp in Brisbane for hot weather and open air work.

Burmester would miss the Oceania event, but would spend part of May and June in the United States for both competition and training.

The team is due to have between one or two weeks in a pre-Olympic camp at the Greek island of Kefalonia, before moving into the Games village around August 9 and 10.

Meanwhile, Rushton said the timetable for an invitation from world governing body Fina for relay teams remained "very unclear".

Swimming NZ had originally thought the deadline was May 31, after the European championships.

However, Rushton said Fina had also published information suggesting that the invitations might not be issued until as late as July 21.

He described that date as "ludicrous and unacceptable" and Swimming NZ was planning to get back in contact with Fina for clarification.

New Zealand swimming team named for the Olympics:

Men: Cameron Gibson (North Shore) 100m and 200m backstroke, Dean Kent (North Shore) 200 individual medley, Corney Swanepoel (North Shore) 100m butterfly, Moss Bermester (Otumoetai) 200m butterfly.

Women - Hannah McLean (North Shore) 100m and 200m backstroke, Helen Norfolk (North Shore) 400 individual medley, 200m freestyle

- NZPA