Natasha Hind excels in Women’s 400m IM heat: Day one – 2012 NSW State Open Championships
New Zealand’s Natasha Hind excelled in the qualification rounds of Women’s 400m Individual Medley (IM) on day one of the 2012 New South Wales (NSW) State Open Championships at the Sydney Olympic Aquatic Centre on Friday, February 10.
The 22-year-old Hind overpowered her challengers by occupying fastest qualification spot of the race in a comfortable manner. She remained in a prominent lead over her competitors and entered the final round by securing top position.
Another highlighting performance of the event included three-time Olympic champion, Australia’s Stephanie Rice, who has just recovered from a shoulder surgery and this was her first participation since December 2011.
Rice remained prominent for second position in the first three rounds, but failed to withstand powerful struggles of Natalie Wiegersma in the last round and finished third.
Hind gained marginal lead over her competitors in the start, as she was the first swimmer to enter the water. With her irresistible efforts, she completed her butterfly swim in a fastest time of 1 minute and 05.77 seconds. She was trailed by Natalie Wiegersma,
who completed her first round with the timing 1 minute and 05.96 seconds.
The crowd witnessed commendable efforts of Wiegersma, who surpassed Hind in the second round by reporting a time of 2 minutes and 19.37 seconds. On the contrary, Hind completed her first half of the swim by submitting a time of 2 minutes and 19.48 seconds.
The same continued in third round, where 22-year-old Wiegersma clocked an effort of 3 minutes and 43.69 seconds while Hind completed her round in a time of 3 minutes and 44.36 seconds.
Subsequently, Hind went rampant in the final round, where she accelerated her efforts and sprinted her way towards the finishing wall for first position by clocking 4 minutes and 48.57 seconds. She was followed by Wiegersma and Rice, who concluded their
swims in second and third place with timings of 4:49.26 and 4:49.93 minutes, respectively.
In addition, the session came to an end after the conclusion of all scheduled events while these qualifying swimmers will compete with each other in the final round of IM discipline.
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