IT'S ALL IN THE TIMING
New touch pads thanks to NZCT
Auckland Swimming, New Zealand’s largest regional swimming association is soon to be the proud new owner of several new touch pads thanks to a $10,000 grant from NZCT. The Omega timing pads, imported directly from the manufacturer in Switzerland will allow Auckland Swimming to continue accurately recording race times and determine the winner of competitions which are often incredibly close. The new pads were put to use for the first time during the Auckland Open Championships, which was held at Henderson’s West Wave Aquatic Centre, between 11- 14 March.
Executive Officer, Brian Palmer says the touch pads are an invaluable tool for athletes who are training hard to qualify the 2010 Commonwealth Games, and ultimately the 2012 Olympics in London. The association is proud to be hosting the Games qualifying trials over Easter weekend - a high profile event run by Swimming New Zealand.
“The Commonwealth Games are on everyone’s mind this year,” says Brian. “Swimmers from Auckland made up the entire New Zealand Team which went to the recent World Championships in Rome, and once again we would expect a large component of the Commonwealth Games team this year to be comprised of athletes from the region.
“We are grateful for NZCT’s help with the purchase of our touch pads. Some of our old ones have been around since the 1990 Commonwealth Games! Touch pads are precision equipment, but they do deteriorate over time. The fact that we have a constant policy of managed replacement, assisted by the generous support in this instance of NZCT allows us to boast the best and most accurate pool based timing equipment in the country. Hosting this year’s trials and our other events without accurate time recording would be extremely difficult.” he says.
The Auckland Open Championships are the last big meet before the Games trials. The competition includes men’s and women’s races in butterfly, breaststroke, backstroke and freestyle. They also include the Rangitoto Sprints – an exciting contest which sees the top 32 seeded swimmers race 50m in each swimming style. Swimmers are progressively eliminated until the last two fight for the gold medal and title of Rangitoto Sprint Champion.
“This is a great spectator event and really gets the crowd going,” says Brian. “At the Auckland Opens we are also offering significant awards to the best men’s and ladies’ distance, middle distance and sprint swimmers.”
For more information about the Auckland Open visit www.akswimming.co.nz. To find out more about the Commonwealth Games swimming trial you can visit www.swimmingnz.org.nz.
We’d like to thank our Auckland venue operators for helping make this grant possible:
Aotea Sports Bar, Arthur's Bar, Blue Moon, Cock & Bull, Coutta's, Ibiza, Iongis, Mad Dogs & Englishmen, Osbourne Street, Papatoetoe Clubrooms, Pass N Punt, Ramarama Country Inn, Rose & Crown Bar & Cafe, Roundabout Bar, Stadium Bar, Stars Bar, Superstrike! Manukau, Suwan Thai, The Crow's Nest, The Fat Camel, The Right Track Sports Cafe, The Rocks, and Victoria Street Bistro.
(photo courtesy of Auckland Swimming)
