Swimming: Swimmers' Olympic dream a masterstroke

Matthew Stanley looks on during day three of the New Zealand Olympic swimming trials at West Wave Aquatic Centre on March 27, 2012 in Auckland, New Zealand. Photo / Getty Images

New Zealand's 12 Olympic-qualified swimmers have triumphed in a year of administrative adversity to be London-bound in July.

At the start of last week's trials in Auckland there were doubts any athletes would add their names to the list of four - Lauren Boyle, Glenn Snyders, Gareth Kean and Melissa Ingram - plus the women's 4x200m freestyle relay team who had already qualified.

Yet four more names were added: Daniel Bell (100m backstroke), Hayley Palmer (50m freestyle), Matthew Stanley (200m and 400m freestyle) and Natalie Wiegersma (200m and 400m individual medley).

Another four could join them if world governing body FINA grants three relay teams the right to attend. If the numbers reach 16 it would be the biggest team New Zealand has sent to an Olympics, topping 14 at Beijing and Atlanta.

The dogged dozen's achievement is all the more special because they have overcome a torrid period behind the scenes to concentrate on producing the required times when it mattered.

The sport has been embroiled in a series of debilitating issues for months. There has been Bell's drinking scandals, allegations of managerial incompetence, regional uprisings, resignation of key powerbrokers and independent reviews, one of which is ongoing.

Caustic examinations into how the sport has been run have been combined with criticism at a dearth of world championship or Olympic medals since 1996 and the investment of $6.6 million of Sport New Zealand taxpayer money over this Olympic cycle.

However, the athletes can be blamed for little of those issues and have done a sterling job to get selected.

The meet highlights came in the form of the four extra individual selections. Each had a reason to be especially proud.

Stanley was effectively the squad bolter with no pre-meet indication that he would qualify, let alone eclipse Danyon Loader's 1996 records in the 200m and 400m freestyle.

His rise to prominence made for a ripping yarn. The 20-year-old was mentored from age 13 through the ranks by Graeme Laing (and latterly Scott Talbot at the high performance centre). Laing is the son of the late Duncan Laing, legendary coach of Loader. Loader was on hand to witness his records broken and was magnanimous in responding to Stanley's achievement.

Stanley is the first Olympic-bound swimmer coached by Laing.

Stanley's success justified years of early morning starts working with Laing at the Matamata swimming club with its eight lane 25m outdoor pool and four-lane 25m indoor pool. It was proof good swimmers can still be discovered and coached successfully outside the main centres. Stanley moved to Auckland to train only in the last 18 months.

Bell bounced back from his drinking issues, a late change of coach, a disappointing world championships and the weight of expectation from an Olympic scholarship worth around $35,000.

He qualified by 0.01s in the 100m backstroke and could well represent New Zealand in the butterfly for the 4x100m medley relay if, as expected, it is given the selection nod in June.

Palmer was hospitalised during the world championships in Shanghai last year, suffering from glandular fever.

She has struggled to return to her best, even travelling to the United States to be coached by American great Randy Reese to get an edge. She nailed the exact A qualifying time of 25.27s in the 50m freestyle. Similarly Wiegersma fought back after suffering shoulder injuries for much of last year. She beat the 400 IM mark by 0.01s and qualified the 200 IM by 0.19s.

The high performance demands of Sport New Zealand require a medallist and preferably five finalists to keep swimming as a targeted 2016 Olympic sport.