Hurring in the mood to break more swim marks

Press, 15 March 1978, Page 32

Hurring in the mood to break more swim marks

By

KEVIN TUTTY

Gary Hurring. who has broken several New Zealand backstroke records this season, will make a further attack on the records at the New' Zealand swimming championships at Queen Elizabeth II Park over the next four da vs.

The 1.9 m (6ft 3in) 16-year-| old has already qualified for.' the Edmonton Games in 100 and 200 m backstroke and will make an all-out attempt i to reach the world chain-i pionship standards this, week. Hurring has to better his, 100 m time of 59 8s bv 0.2 s i to reach the world cham-, pionship standard, but the 200 m time will be a little] more difficult. Hurring’s best time tori the longer distance is 2rnin 9.45, 1.6 s outside the world championship target. However, his ability has not] been fully tested this season, and the standard could be. within his reach. He is sol

I far ahead of the other backStrakers in New Zealand, however, that he will be racing the clock. Hurring’s first event is the :100m backstroke today. The ’ 200 m race is on Friday and i tomorrow he is a leading icontender for the coveted 1100 m freestyle title. . The most accomplished i swimmer at th*' carnival, I Rebecca Perrott (Wellingiton), has spent the last three’ | days in bed shaking off a heavy cold and her perform- [ ances might not be as good] as expected. | Her coach, Tony Keenan, j said yesterday that she beat • the world championship 1400 m freestyle target last

’Saturday with a time of j 4min 20.35, 0.7 s inside the [required time. I Had she been fully fit I Keenan was hoping for a 'time under 4min 20.0 s this i week. There is no prospect [of Miss Perrott regaining the Commonwealth 400 m freestyle record which the Australian, Michelle Ford took from Miss Perrott last month. She has not done enough speed work to get [her time down to 4min : 12.0 s — the time necesIsary to break Miss Ford’s [mark. Another star at the championships will be John Coutts, who has gained national acclaim in the last two months as a marathon swimmer. He was a bronze medallist at the 1974 Games in Christchurch and is keen! to swim at Edmonton.

He has qualified in only the 100 m butterfly, however, and is directing al) his energies into this race on Saturday. Originally he intended to do a time trial over 200 m during an interval at the championships, but has given the idea away.

It was in the 200 m event that he won his bronze medal, but Coutts said yesterday he found his rythmn deteriorating over the longer event and has decided to concentrate or the short race.

He is still feeling some effects from his marathon performances, but with three days to prepare for the 100 m he hopes he will throw off the last of them. The target time for Edmonton is 58.0' for 100 m and Coutts is confident he can achieve it Because the times are so tough, he and his coach. Bert Cotterill, believe he will have to get a nomination if he betters 58.05.

Barry Salisbury (Wellington) is the country’s leading sprint freestyler now Bret Naylor is in the United States, and Salisbury’s coach, Dave Henderson, is

[hoping his charge will reach [the target of 54.05. With Salisbury, Brent O’Neill, Paul ""homson and Mark Jackson all capable of better than 57.0 s for 100 m freestyle, Wellington will be the favourite for the men’s 4 x 100 m freestyle relay. There are a host of swimmers on the verge of beating Edmonton targets. Penny McCarthy (Auckland) equalled the 100 m butterfly time last October and should beat it on Saturday. Andrea Hawcridge (Auckland), in backstroke and medley, Toni Grayburn (Auckland) and Susan Burton (Waikato), in sprint freestyle, Melanie Jones and Trudi Garland (both Canterbury), in backstroke, are some of the ■'omen close to qualifying.

In women’s breaststroke there are four swimmers — Rickie Binning end Tracy Turnbull (Canterbury), Deidre Walls (Nelson) and Rebecca Tohill (Otago) — chasing the targets. All are similar in ability and it would be risky to pick the placings in these events. Fewer men are likely to produce outstanding times. [David Wright (Otago) is expected to make the butterfly standards, and Paul Rowe (Canterbury) could make the 100 m butterfly target. Hurring has no peers in backstroke, and Nicolas Harriman and Roman Novak (Auckland) will need to make spectacular improvement in breaststroke to reach the targets. Similarly Kevin Brown (Waikato) has much ground to make up in middle distance freestyle.

Consolation finals will be held this year for the first time in the men’s and women’s 100 and 200 m freestyle, 100 m backstroke, breaststroke and buttefly and 200 m individual medley.

The reason for their in troduction was to give swimmers an additional race, but unfortunately in some consolations there will be only two and three swimmers.