FINA World Championships – Day 8 Wrap

New Zealand has completed its campaign with two medals and four finalists at the FINA World Championships in Kazan, Russia.

On the last day of competition, Nathan Capp in the 400m medley and the men’s medley relay both missed out on qualifying for the finals although both competed with merit. Capp was 28^th fastest in the 400m individual medley in 4:23.00. The men’s quartet of Corey Main, Glenn Snyders, Bradlee Ashby and Matt Stanley were 16^th fastest in the 4x100m medley relay in 3:38.69, on the back of a superb opening 54.40 backstroke leg from Main.

The eight-strong pool team, one of the smallest in a number of years, finished with two medals (to Lauren Boyle) with swimmers qualifying for four finals and five semifinals. This is only one less final than in 2013 where the team was bigger and equalled the number of finals from a larger team in Shanghai in 2011 where there were no medals earned.

There were three national records to Boyle (800m and 1500m freestyle) and Capp (800m freestyle) and other personal bests, with the team including three clear prospects for 2020 Olympics in 15 year old Bobbi Gichard, Bradley Ashby and Nathan Capp.

New Zealand has now won 10 medals at the world championships with the first to the current head coach Gary Hurring in 1978, and now with five to Boyle over the last two championships.

The championships attracted 184 nations with coach Gary Hurring, New Zealand’s first medallist back in 1978, believing it was the deepest in his experience.

Hurring said Boyle was the clear stand out and Snyders again proved he is competitive on the world stage.

He said the championships had been a vital learning opportunity for most of the squad who were experiencing a world championship for the first time.

The experience of performing on this stage will stand them in good stead as they move into an important 12 months to Rio and on to Tokyo in 2020, said Hurring.

CAPTION: Corey Main in action. (The image is free for editorial use only. Credit: Ian Macnicol).