Hunter snaps up gold in 50m, 100m at short course swim champs

Swimmer Daniel Hunter (Howick Pakuranga) was the heavy favourite going into the men’s 100m freestyle final fresh off winning the 50m freestyle title at the New Zealand Short Course Championships at the weekend.

Ahead comfortably at the halfway mark, the field which included Hunters’ flat mate Sam Perry (St Peter’s) started to close in on the leader, but left their run too late with Hunter winning in 48.64s.

“It was a really tough race, I definitely saw everyone with me at the 50m and 75m marks, I just tried to put my head down and get to the wall first,” said Hunter.

Hunter finished in a time of 48.64s, well within the FINA B standard. Perry was second in 49.26s with veteran Steven Kent (Coast) in 49.35s.

Last Thursday Hunter won gold in the men’s 50m freestyle in 22.31s.

“We’ve done a lot of aerobic work leading up to this so the speed is not yet there but I’m hoping it will be there for the 100m (freestyle) on Saturday,” he said.

Tyron Henry (Howick Pakuranga), 17, the youngest in the A-final picked up the silver medal in 22.79s, a new personal best time. Charles Porter (Vikings) won bronze in 22.88s.

In the women’s 50m freestyle final, Rebecca Moynihan (Raumati) showed the power of her finishing speed, winning her first national title in 25.30s. Paige Flynn (St Peter’s) was second in 25.46s, to go with the 100m backstroke final she won last night.

Age-group champion Chelsey Edwards (SwimZone) was third in 25.75s.

North Canterbury swimmer George Adam’s fist pumping at the finish of the men’s 400m freestyle Para multi-class drew cheers and smiles from the crowd. Adams won gold from Benjamin Gould (Geraldine).

Chris Arbuthnott (Ice Breaker) and Tupou Neiufi (Howick Pakuranga) both won the men’s and women’s Para multi-class 100m individual medley and 50m freestyle events.

The championships were held at the Sir Owen G. Glenn National Aquatic Centre in Auckland.