Hawke's Bay swimmer Bobbi Gichard remains a hot prospect for the Rio Olympics after her bronze medal effort in the 100m backstroke final at the World Junior Championships in Singapore yesterday.
"Bobbi's time is only 17/100ths of a second off the mark she will need to achieve at next year's trials for the Olympics. We've got time on our side to work on that," Gichard's delighted Greendale club coach Noel Hardgrave-Booth said from Singapore yesterday.
Gichard stopped the clock at 1m 00.42s, her third consecutive personal best at the championships and a new national age group record. The time was 0.2 seconds outside the national open record set by former HBPB swimmer Emily Thomas in 2009 before non-fabric swim suits were banned.
"I didn't expect I could get third but after the race I looked up at the scoreboard and I was so stoked with the race and my time," the 15-year-old said.
Swimming in lane seven, Gichard said she was unaware of her position in the race. "I couldn't see anyone from my lane. I'm unsure if that was a good or a bad thing."