Today was the first day of competition for the majority of our athletes. Adrenaline was running, blood pumping and the team was fighting fit to line up and compete. This morning our swimmers got off to a fantastic start in the pool with every swimmer qualifying for a final, including two fastest qualifying times. The teams black NZL swimming caps could be seen at the front end of every race! A great confidence boost for the finals tonight. Three athletics boys hit the track running mid-morning. 100m runner Kodi Harman ran a superb heat and qualified for the semi-finals, where he just missed out on qualifying for the final but posted a personal best! Blair also made the semi-final for the 100m and Tom Symes looked strong in his 400m qualifying heats, earning a spot in the finals tomorrow night. Well done Tom! Aryk Whalley and Cory Miles stepped into the boxing ring tonight looking strong and confident. Aryk had a tough bout against an Englishman and Cory against a Scotsman. Both were unsuccessful, but any kiwi would have been proud to have watched them tonight! They fought blood, sweat and tears and never gave up. Our gymnasts all had excellent performances. Reid, our only male gymnast, has qualified for the All-Round Mens Final and the Apparatus final for the High Bars and the Rings tomorrow. Our three girls looked fantastic in their sparkly black leotards, and only just missed out on placing in the womens team competition. Charlotte and Brittany will compete tomorrow in apparatus finals. In EXCITING NEWS our swimming team finished the day with not one, two, three, four BUT five medals and three national records!!! Corey Main won the gold medal in the 200m backstroke, Sophia Batchelor won a silver and bronze in the 50m butterfly and the 200m backstroke respectively! What is more impressive is that these two races were back to back! Matthew Hutchins won a silver medal in the 200m freestyle in a fast finish, and Alex Hancock won a bronze medal in the 50m butterfly. Corey, Sophia (50m fly), and Matt all broke a national age group records. PBs were smashed in the pool! We welcomed our medallists back to the team hotel with a haka as they stepped off the bus on the promenade. It was exciting for the team to perform for such worthy recipients. Whooohoo! What a great start to the Games, bring on tomorrow!
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