Swimming boss unhappy despite Glasgow success   30 Jul 2014

Robert Lowe

Lauren Boyle may have claimed New Zealand's first Commonwealth gold by a woman in the pool for 24 years, but swim boss Luis Villanueva is not a happy man.

The 16-strong team landed four medals at Glasgow - a gold and a silver to Boyle and two golds for para-swimmer Sophie Pascoe.

But Swimming NZ's high performance manager Villanueva says they fell short of expectations at the Tollcross International Swimming Centre.

His criteria for a successful campaign go beyond podium placings.

He wants to see swimmers producing personal bests and also improving on their qualifying times.

Attention now turns to the Pan Pacs on the Gold Coast next month, after which changes to the squad could be made.
"The team hasn't performed as well as I expected," Villanueva said.

"It's not about the medals, it's about seeing some progression in the swimmers.
"I'm not happy, but I think we can still expect some good times in three weeks. After that we will review and see if we need to make any change."

On the flip side, Villanueva did highlight the efforts of Boyle, Pascoe and backstroker Corey Main.

Boyle's times had been slower than last year, when she won three world championship bronze medals, but he said she raced well to win the 400m freestyle and he was confident she would go quicker in the Pan Pacs.

Villanueva had plenty of praise for 19-year-old Aucklander Main, who is based in the US at the University of Florida.

Main was able to post personal bests on the way to finishing fourth over 200m and sixth over 100m.

"It has been excellent to have new blood in the team and a swimmer with a lot of determination and swimming well every time he has been in the pool," Villanueva said.
"It's his first major meet, but he looked like a very experienced swimmer."

Source: 3news

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