Swimming: Kent sets second New Zealand record

9.50pm - By KEVIN NORQUAY

Dean Kent has turned in the outstanding New Zealand swim of the Olympic Games to smash his own 200m individual medley record.

Kent, 25, swam two minutes 01.31secs for third in his heat, to qualify seventh fastest for the semifinals tonight (5.38am Thursday NZT).

He carved almost a second off his own national record of 2min 2.24sec, set last year in Wellington.

Hungarian Laszlo Cseh won the heat in 1min 59.50sec, the fastest qualifer ahead of hotshot American Michael Phelps, who swam 2min 00.01sec in the final heat.

Kent was beaten for second by a fingertip, when Italian Massimiliano Rosolino grabbed him on the wall in 2min 00.30sec.

Rosolino won the 200m medley gold medal at the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games.

It was the second national record at the Olympics for Kent, who competed in Sydney and at the 2002 Commonwealth Games in Manchester.

He broke his own New Zealand 400m individual medley record on opening day.

Earlier Alison Fitch, 24, was eliminated from the women's 100m freestyle when 20th fastest in the heats, clocking 56.29sec.

She rattled home to take third in her heat behind Hanna Shcherba of Belarus (56.01sec) and Jeanette Olsen of Denmark, who swam 56.17sec.

Fitch, a 1996 Olympian, was eighth at the 50m turn, but put in the fastest last stretch to move through the pack.

Cameron Gibson was more than two seconds off his best in the 200m backstroke, failing to qualify for the semifinals.

Aucklander Gibson, who turned 22 on the first day of the Games, clocked 2min 2.65sec, well outside his personal best of 2min 00.88sec.

Briton Jamie Goddard won the heat in 1min 57.96sec.

New Zealand failed to qualify in the women's 2x200m relay final, when 13th fastest of 16 in the heats.

After a solid start by Helen Norfolk, Fitch swum a fine leg to pull New Zealand up into fourth place.

But Rebecca Linton and Nathalie Bernard were unable to maintainn the momentum Fitch created.

New Zealand coach Jan Cameron said Kent was drawing on his experience at the Sydney Olympics to swim well when it was most important.

Swimmers in the squad who had not swum as well as Kent would benefit from their time in Athens, she said.

Kent had posted an outstanding swim, she said.

"He's a big time swimmer, he knows how to get it out of himself when it counts," Cameron said.

"He's a racer and he's gutsy."

- NZPA