Chinese swimmers add to quality field

CLASS ACT: Top three ranked New Zealand butterfly swimmer Lochlainn O'Connor from Greerton Swimming Club. PHOTO/FILE

Record numbers of top class swimmers will contest the Greerton Swimming Club Winter Champs at Baywave Aquatic Centre from Friday to Sunday.

The event sponsored by Classic Builders and Pub Charity has attracted 370 swimmers, up from 250 last year to make it the largest event on the local swim calendar.

More teams have entered from the Waikato and Auckland in particular this year with teams also travelling from as far as Wellington to compete.

There will also be an international flavour with 29 Chinese swimmers aged 12 to 17 from Shanghai competing.

The best of the Chinese swim team in the boys' division are Yan Che He, 15, in the 100m medley (entry time 56.50), and Gong Yu Chen, 16, in the 200m breaststroke (2:24.30) and 100m breaststroke (1:04.10).

Among a high quality female group are Fu Jia Ying, 15, in the 50m breaststroke long course (entry time 31.10), and Song Zi Xin, 12, with a 2:23.80 long course best for the 200m medley.

Both these entry times are faster than the current New Zealand records.

The Chinese swimmers are here thanks to former Great Britain and China coach David Lyles, now based in Auckland.

Lyles took teams to six Olympic Games and was also at the helm of New Zealand swimming from 2013 to 2014.

"I lived there [Shanghai] for seven years so the relationship is quite strong. I coached a lot of the coaches who are here with the young swimmers," Lyles said.

"Any team that goes anywhere for training normally wants to end up with a competition.

"We looked at the New Zealand calendar to find a suitable competition that was suitable to their level. In Auckland the standard was not high enough but the Greerton event is ideal.

"I used to coach Nathan Capp who is from Greerton so there is a connection there."

The best of the New Zealand swimmers to watch include locals Lochlainn O'Connor (Greerton), ranked top three in New Zealand in the 200 butterfly, 200m medley and 50m butterfly, and multi-talented Ruby Mathews (Otumoetai).

Mathews cleaned up the awards table at the recent Bay of Plenty Swimming Awards and is expected to push New Zealand No 1 Rebecca Cheyne from Pukekohe under nine minutes in the 800m freestyle race that will be a highlight of the Friday night programme.

Other top ranked Kiwis include Matt Hyde (Matamata), who should dominate the 200m and 400m freestyle, but is expected to be pushed hard by Dan Caldwell (St Peter's) in the 100m freestyle.

Top sprinter Paige Flynn (St Peter's) will be hard to beat over the freestyle sprints.

The hugely popular Classic Builders Medley Skins will again close the event.

The top 10 points scorers over the three days are selected for the Medley Skins which is swum in five heats leaving every two minutes.

The slowest two swimmers are eliminated in each heat with the last surviving swimmer winning the well-earned $300 first prize after five races in under 10 minutes.