Forbes among record-breakers

Press, 5 September 1983, Page 32

Forbes among record-breakers

PA Auckland Several national swimming records were toppled at Cameron Pool, Auckland, at the week-end. Five Commonwealth Games swimmers broke and rebroke open marks in all strokes, and two national relay marks were claimed in the Tisco meeting.

In the men’s 100 m breastroke, Grant Forbes of Canterbury, snipped .03s off the record of Imin 4.72 s held by another Commonwealth Games representative, Brett Austin.

Forbes, one of a trio of highly ranked breaststroke exponents, was almost a length ahead of the field, which did not feature either Austin or Mark Kalaugher, to register a time of Imin 4.685.

In the heats of the open 400 m freestyle, Michael Davidson, a bronze medallist in the event in the recent Pacific Games in Tokyo, clipped 3.1 s off his own record when he was the fastest qualifier for the finals in 3min 56.315. In the final he pruned that mark to 3min 35.215. Davidson featured again

in an exciting race with Richard Wells (Auckland) over 100 m freestyle. Wells won the event in a record time of 52.01 s — ,28s faster than the mark he held jointly with Murray Parker (Auckland).

Paul Kingsman had to fight hard to retain his 100 m backstroke short-course record, when both he (58.755) and Garry Mason, of Roskill (59.255) bettered Kingsman’s existing record of 59.385. Anthony Mosse’s winning time of the 100 m butterfly — 55.925, bettered his own national record, but Mosse has a faster time of Ss.4min 8s pending ratificatAq.