30 Jul 2012

Boyle eighth in 400m freestyle final

2:11 pm on 30 July 2012

New Zealand swimmer Lauren Boyle has finished out of the medals in the women's 400m freestyle final.

Boyle was in eighth place with a time of 4:06.25, in a race commentators described as having a very hot pace.

Camille Muffat of France took gold with an Olympic record time of 4:01.45.

Lauren Boyle.

Lauren Boyle. Photo: NZOC

Lauren Boyle said she probably spent too much time watching the others and didn't concentrate on her own race, but says she'll learn from it.

In qualifying for the final, Boyle set a New Zealand record of 4:03.63, finishing third in the event's fastest heat. Her time was the fourth fastest across all the heats.

The 24-year-old freestyle specialist cut two seconds off the national record she set earlier this year.

Wellington backstroke specialist Gareth Kean failed to make the final of the 100 backstroke.

He finished eighth in the semi-finals of the men's 100m backstroke in a time of 54.00.The heat was won by Mattew Grevers of the United States, in 52.66.

Kean will next compete in the 200m backstroke heats on Wednesday.

Earlier, Kean had put in a good performance to qualify for the semi-finals, finishing sixth in his heat with a time of 54.26.

The time put him in 14th place overall, just scraping through to the next stage.

The other New Zealander competing in the event, Daniel Bell, came last in his heat and finished in 37th place overall.

In the men's 200m freestyle, Matthew Stanley finished seventh his heat.

Stanley's time of 1:48.19 put him in 18th place overall - two places outside the top 16 finish needed to make the semi-finals.