On the last two days of the 2013 FINA World Championships, New Zealand earned another bronze medal from distance swimmer, Lauren Boyle. She broke the New Zealand and Oceanic records, not once, but twice! In prelims, she touched the wall at 8:21.00, breaking the records. In finals, she finished at 8:18.58 to finish third behind America’s Katie Ledecky and Denmark’s Lotte Friis.
Boyle had a great meet and made a huge impact for New Zealand. Throughout the Championships, the country made it into 5 finals. Lauren Boyle earned a medal, finishing in third, in three of those races. Four of New Zealand’s National Records were broken throughout the championships.
Australia had a strong showing on the last two days of the championships as well. Belinda Hocking and Cate Campbell both earned silver medals in the 200 backstroke and 50 freestyle. Individually, the team swam well. The Australian team made it into 28 finals and earned 13 medals. Christian Sprenger, Cate Campbell, and James Magnussen all individually won gold medals and led the rest of the team to 10 silver medals.
Australia was not to0 excited about the way their relays performed at the start of the meet. The women had a fantastic relay in the 4×100 freestyle relay but were touched out by the Americans. The men missed the podium all together. As the meet continued, the relays improved for the Aussies. Both the men’s and women’s 4×100 medley relays finished in second place, after a disqualification of the Untied States men’s relay for an early take off. Australia is coming off of one of their worst Olympics to date, so this was a good step in the right direction for their swimming program.
Thoughts:
- Australian sprinters were ready to go
- Jordan Harrison has a very bright future ahead of him
Records:
- Lauren Boyle – New Zealand – Oceanic and National – 800 Free – 8:21.00
- Lauren Boyle – New Zealand – Oceanic and National – 800 Free – 8:18.58