Oceania Championships: Robert Hurley Claims Third, Fourth Golds of Meet

CHRISTCHURCH, New Zealand, June 6. AUSTRALIA's Robert Hurley and New Zealand's Helen Norfolk added to their medal hauls during the second day of action at the Oceania Championships held at the QEII Leisure Center in Christchurch, New Zealand.

With a pair of golds with first-day wins in the 100 back and 200 free, Hurley checked in with a meet-record time of 25.64 in the 50 back to earn his third individual title. He also helped Australia's 800 free relay of Ryan Napoleon, Reece Turner and Theodore Pasialis as the anchor of the meet-record time of 7:25.63.

For the women, Norfolk added the 400 IM crown with a meet-record time of 4:47.32 to her coffers. She'd already topped the 200 free yesterday in 2:00.31.

Three other meet records fell during the second day as Liz Coster hit the wall in 28.89 in the women's 50 back, while Hayley Palmer tied the meet record in the 100 free with a 55.55. Then, the New Zealand women's 800 free relay team of Merindah Dingjan, Blair Evans, Jacinta Powell and Morgan-Lee Barnes turned in an 8:10.78 to set the meet record in the event.

Other gold medals for the men went to New Zealand's Mark Herring in the 100 free (50.17), Glenn Snyders in the 100 breast (1:02.31) and Australia's Stephen Parkes in the 400 IM (4:30.49).

"I am happy that I came out with a reasonable time and the win," Parkes told Swimming Australia. "(Australian Youth Coach) Leigh Nugent has talked about performing well, no matter how you actually feel and although I've had a few problems I now know that doesn't matter. You just have step up and do your job and that's something I wanted to do here. I didn't want to just lead and set an example in winning events but also in terms of how I perform out of the pool in setting an example for the younger members of this team."

Meanwhile, Jessica Legge, 15, of Australia claimed the women's 100 breast in 1:11.30.

"It was amazing how many people Annabelle had here but it just made me go faster," Legge told Swimming Australia. "I wanted to swim a personal best and win and I achieved one of those things. It is a privilege to be on this team and a great experience for me so to get a gold medal is an even better experience."

Results – Day Two
Male:
50m backstroke R Hurley (AUS) 25.64 (CR) D Bell (NZL) 26.13 B Byrne (AUS) 26.56
100m freestyle M Herring (NZL) 50.17 C Gibson (NZL) 50.43 R Turner (AUS) 50.61
100m breaststroke G Snyders (NZL) 1:02.31 J Stacey (AUS) 1:03.16 D Kent (NZL) 1:03.92
400m individual medley S Parkes (AUS) 4:30.49 B Newall (NZL) 4:36.32 B Murphy (NZL) 4:41.64
800m freestyle relay Australia (R Napoleon, R Turner, T Pasialis, R Hurley) 7:25.63 (CR) New Zealand 7:33.29 New Caledonia 8:11.72

Female:
50m backstroke L Coster (NZL) 28.89 (CR) E Thomas (NZL) 29.63 B-R Taylor (AUS) 29.79
100m freestyle H Palmer (NZL) 55.55 (=CR) M Dingjan (AUS) 56.27 R Ohlwein (AUS) 56.54
100m breaststroke J Legge (AUS) 1:11.30 A Carey (NZL) 1:11.53 O Halicek (AUS) 1:15.27
400m individual medley H Norfolk (NZL) 4:47.32 (CR) B Evans (AUS) 4:54.03 J Legge (AUS) 4:58.93
800m freestyle relay New Zealand 8:10.78 (CR) Australia (M Dingjan, B Evans, J Powell, M-L Barnes) 8:13.31 Hawaii 9:06.10

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