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Norfolk swims to silver medal at world games
Sunday, August 14th, 2005
North Shore swimmer Helen Norfolk (Massey Albany) earned New Zealand their second medal on
the second night of finals at the World University Games in Izmir, Turkey
today (NZ time).
The 23-year-old claimed a silver medal in the final of the 200m individual
medley, edged out by former world record holder Ql Hui (China) in a
thrilling final.
The New Zealand squad, who won silver in the 4×100m freestyle relay on the
opening night, have matched the previous best medal haul from any Summer
Universiade, which was the two-medal haul by swim great Anthony Mosse 20
years ago.
New Zealand was a fingertip away from two more medals with the North Shore
pair of Alison Fitch (Massey Albany) and Liz Coster (Auckland) both finishing fourth in their finals of
the 100m freestyle and 50m backstroke respectively.
“It was a fantastic night for the team. Of course we are perfectionists and
felt that three medals was within our reach,” head coach Thomas Ansorg
said. “Our leading swimmers now believe they belong at this level of
competition and both Alison and Liz are disappointed that they could not
quite finish off their swims to get medals too.
“The squad are in excellent mood and performing extremely well. We are
quite buoyant about the rest of the meet and believe there will be more
medals to come.”
Ansorg said the blazing heat and travel continues to be the major hurdle for
all swimmers, and is the main factor in not achieving New Zealand record
times in Turkey.
“It was up to 40C deg today. It is a major feat to keep hydrated and keep
out of the direct heat as much as possible. The heat makes it very difficult
just to stand on the starting blocks because they have heated up so much.
“We are up at 5am each day and we are not getting back to eat and then bed
before 10pm so it is a long day for all swimmers to cope. So I am very proud
of their efforts.”
Ansorg said Norfolk was in focussed mood today, bettering her performance at
the recent Montreal world championships in the final of the 200m individual
medley. The former Canterbury swimmer led after the butterfly and backstroke
legs, with Hui edging in front during the breaststroke as Norfolk closed in
to record 2:16.03 for second place. She was a second behind the Chinese
swimmer and just outside her own national record.
Coster almost missed a place in the final of the 50m backstroke after
slipping at the start and managing to grab the last spot in 29.76c in the
morning heats. The 23-year-old was caught in mid-stroke at the finish and
was pipped for the bronze medal by just 1/100th of a second, clocking
29.43s.
“Liz took another stroke when she should have extended and reached, and
that was all the difference between fourth and a medal. Like in Montreal
basically the whole field touched almost at once. She was so, so close.
“Liz has made so much progress. She has learned and grown a lot and is no
longer satisfied just to participate at this level, which is a great
attitude.”
Ansorg believes Coster will be a medal threat in the 50m butterfly and 100m
backstroke to come.
Fitch, the New Zealand team captain, qualified fourth for the final of the
100m freestyle, dropping to 56.71s in the morning swim, and producing
another good performance to lower this to 56.56s in the final. She was just
1/10th of a second off the bronze medal.
“Alison has done such a great job as the overall team captain and she also
stepped up coming here as the ninth ranked swimmer and moving to fourth.
Again like Liz though she was just unable to make the final breakthrough for
a medal. She did all the hard work and to her credit she swam significantly
faster than in the relay with two good swims today.”
He was also impressed by the performance of young Canterbury swimmer
Georgina Toomey (University of Canterbury) who produced four personal bests to finish eighth in the B
final of the 100m freestyle and sixth in the B final of the 100m butterfly.
“It was a tough day for Georgina with four swims in this heat. She produced
personal bests each time and is really developing into a fine prospect.”
North Shore backstroker Melissa Ingram (Auckland University) finished eighth in the B final of the
50m backstroke while clubmate Te Rina Taite (Massey Albany) missed out on a place in the
finals, recording the 22nd best time in the heats of the 200m individual
medley.
The men’s 4×100m freestyle relay team were disqualified in their heat in the
morning after a swimmer was adjudged to have started too early.
The main hope for a medal on the third day of competition tomorrow lies with
the women’s 4×200m freestyle relay involving Norfolk, Fitch, Ingram and
Taite who were fifth at the recent world championships.
New Zealand results, day 2:
Heats:
100m freestyle: A Fitch (Massey Albany) 56.71, equal 4th, G Toomey (Canterbury) 57.85s, 15th.
200m individual medley: H Norfolk (Massey Albany) 2:17.23, 3rd, T Taite (Massey Albany) 2:24.75, 22nd.
100m butterfly: Toomey (Canterbury) 1:02.34, 13th.
50m backstroke: L Coster (Auckland) 29.76s, 8th; M Ingram (Auckland)
30.40, 14th.
Men 4×100m freestyle relay: NZ dsq.
Finals:
100m freestyle: Fitch (Massey Albany) 56.56, 4th (A final), Toomey (Canterbury) 57.68, 8th (B final).
200m individual medley: Norfolk (Massey Albany) 2:16.03, 2nd (A final)
100m butterfly: Toomey (Canterbury) 1:02.23, 6th (B final)
50m backstroke: Coster (Auckland) 29.43, 4th (A final), Ingram (Auckland) 30.46, 8th (B final)
For interviews contact:
Jan Cameron Tel 029 2553677 (until 7am NZ time or after 4pm - note Turkey
9hrs behind)
For information contact:
Ian Hepenstall, Sports Media NZ, Tel 09 2322960, Mob 021 613181
