Simcic wins silver medal

Press, 21 August 1989, Page 44

Simcic wins silver medal

Talk about Anna Simcic being a Commonwealth Games medal prospect will certainly intensify after her excellent second-place finish in the women’s 200 m backstroke at the Pan Pacific swimming championships in Tokyo at the week-end.

Most encouraging for the Canterbury swimmer would have been pipping her great Australian rival, Nicole Livingstone, albeit by just one onehundredth of a second. Fresh from her own national championships, the American, Dede Trimble, took the gold medal in 2min 13.76 s with Simcic, aged 17, 0.45 s back for the silver. Simcic’s time of 2:14.21 was about four-tenths of a second outside her best, but still an extremely good one especially considering the New Zealand team’s lack of recent competition.

After the race Simcic rang her parents in Christchurch and expressed pleasure with her win over Livingstone. Mr Horst Simcic said she was very happy with the swim, though absolutely exhausted after the all-out effort. Simcic was leading the race up until about the last 25 metres. A silver medal was ample compensation for a fourth place in the 100 m backstroke earlier. Of the other New Zealand finalists on Saturday evening Paul Kingsman won a bronze medal in the men’s 200 m backstroke behind Dan Veatch (United States) and Gary Anderson (Can-

ada) while both Anthony Mosse (Men’s 100 m butterfly) and Phillipa Langrell, of Christchurch (women’s 400 m freestyle) had fifth placings. Peter Doig finished seventh in the men’s 200 m backstroke. New Zealand finished sixth in the women’s 4 x 100 m freestyle relay, won by the United States in 3:43.63.

Anthony Nesty, who won Surinam’s first Olympic medal — a gold — at Seoul last year won the men’s 100 m butterfly with a time of 53.80, 0.73 s faster than Mosse did for fifth.