Moss Burmester has lost his Commonwealth Games 200m butterfly crown, after he failed to make the final in the Delhi pool this morning.
Burmester was 10th fastest in the heats, missing this evening's final by .45sec on an otherwise positive opening session for New Zealand. After the race he told reporters he thought in the pool he was going better than the time indicated.
"The swim actually felt quite good," he said. "In fact, my best for a while, it felt a lot faster than it was. I actually eased off a bit in the last 20 metres." Lauren Boyle will be the first New Zealander to go for a medal, when she races in the women's 200m final this evening. (11.30pm, NZT)
Southlander Natalie Wiegersma will also see finals action today. Boyle qualified third fastest when she clocked one minute 59.33 seconds in the final heat. Two Australians qualified ahead of her, Kylie Palmer in 1min 58.71sec and Blair Evans in 1min 59.25sec.
New Zealander Natasha Hind missed the final by a scant .03sec. Wiegersma clocked 2min 15.45sec for third in her heat of the women's 200m individual medley, fifth fastest going into the final, while Burmester Daniel Bell and Gareth Kean swam into today's men's 50m backstroke semifinals.
Bell won his heat in 25.90sec to qualify sixth, while Kean was third in the final heat in 25.80sec, fifth fastest overall. Englishman Liam Tannock was fastest qualifier in 25.47sec.
Hayley Palmer will also be back in the pool this evening, after she swum her way into the women's 50m butterfly semifinals. Palmer was second in her heat in 27.16sec, seventh fastest and .63sec slower than top qualifier, Australian ace Emily Seebohm who also topped the individual medley qualifiers.
NZPA
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