Bree braced for final flourish

ANDREW BREE said he was going to have to blow his personal best to get through to the semi-final of the 200m breaststroke at the Olympic Aquatic Centre, and he did just that yesterday when he set a new national record at 2:10.91, knocking more than two seconds off his old mark.

This morning he was lining up alongside world record holder Kosuke Kitajima (Japan), 2:07.51, in the first of the two semi-finals, with Daniel Gyurta (Hungary) who set the Olympic record at 2:08.68 last night, in the other heat.

“I was on pace with all my strokes today,” said Bree who led at every turn. “I was smoother tonight. I felt good – 200 is my stroke – when I try and sprint it I don’t know what I’m doing so it is good to get into my stroke. I know that race inside out. It is good to get rid of that 2:13. It’s been hanging around for a while. I always knew I was going to go faster but it is good to get into the 2:10’s.

“I knew with the pace work that I have been doing I was going to swim fast. It was good to finally get out there and do what I do best.”

Meanwhile, swim coach Keith Bewley, insisted yesterday the problem which caused Melanie Nocher to pause to adjust her goggles during her heat of the women’s 200m freestyle event was “her responsibility”.

Nocher finished in seventh place after her goggles filled up with water, forcing her to briefly stop and lose time. She blamed the problem on having to wear a new cap because the logos on the old one contravened regulations. Usually she would strap her goggles inside the cap but the replacement cap meant she had to strap them on the outside.

Bewley explained the background to the mishap: “There was a couple of things. We were trying on the new Speedo suits and they are quite difficult to get on, in fact they can take about 20 minutes, and I think Melanie’s was a bit tight to get on — it split a little bit. There was a bit of a panic on there and a rush to get round before the race and I just don’t think she had them (the goggles) on tight enough, that’s all.”

He said the swimmer had not tried on her suit before the race, but insisted that she was adequately prepared for the Olympics.

“What happens if you look at Michael Phelps, he has a new suit every time he races? They’re obviously better when they are brand new. They are not stretched or anything last night — that’s the idea behind them,” he said.

“They (the goggles) filled with water. The main thing is that I don’t think they were tight enough. It’s her responsibility. It’s like when Ian Thorpe got in at the Olympic trials — he got disqualified. It’s down to him, it’s one of those things that happened — and this is one of those things that happened.

“It’s unfortunate but fortunate in such a way because it wasn’t her best event. It’s the freestyle warm-up for her backstroke. Hopefully in the next two days when it comes to her backstroke this is all sorted.”