Beks just outside record

Press, 11 September 1989, Page 24

Beks just outside record

Antony Beks (Avon Aquatics) was a fingertip away from the New Zealand 100 m breaststroke record at the Wharenui Junior Olympics at Queen,Elizabeth II Park yesterday.

Two weeks ago Beks broke 65s for the first time and that time, Imin 4.925, was nine hundredths of a second outside the national record set by Brett Austin in 1984. Yesterday Beks was just two hundredths of a second out-, side the breaststroke mark and seems destined to better the record sometime in the next few months. Beks’ times in the last two weeks were comfortably inside the Commonwealth Games qualifying time of Imin 5.23 s and he seems

assured of a place in the Games side. Anna Simcic (Avon Aquatics) won three gold medals in the women’s 100 and 200 m backstroke and 100 m butterfly. There was an interesting confrontation in the final of the women’s 15-and-over 200 m breaststroke. The New Zealand record holder, Michaela Ross, who has already broken the Games qualifing time, narrowly beat her rapidly improving sister, Fiona Ross, by just 0.2 of a second. Danyon Loader, the 14 year-old 1500 m and 800 m national champion from Otago, gave the 13 and 14 year-olds no chance of success. He collected six gold medals.

Linda Robinson of the Wharenui club in Christchurch, was dominant in the women’s 200 m and 400 m individual medley. She was also first in the 800 m freestyle event. Her clubmate, Phillippa Langrell, helped secure her Commonwealth Games selection with three gold medals in butterfly and freestyle. Beks featured again in a New Zealand team which won the men’s 4xloom medley relay. The team was made up of swimmers who competed in the Asian Pacific Games in Taipei recently. Entries for the competition were the largest in its history. There were 500 competitors from 42 clubs throughout New Zealand and they made 2800 entries.