Australia and New Zealand are as good as gold at 2008 Oceania Swimming Championships

(BEIJING, June 8) -- The curtain fell on the four-day Oceania Swimming Championships in Christchurch, New Zealand on Sunday, June 8. All of the gold medals were taken by the Australians and New Zealanders, except the one for the men's 100 meter butterfly, which was taken by Ryan Pini from Papua New Guinea on Saturday, with a time of 52.33 seconds.

Robert Hurley from Australia cruised to victory in the men's 100 meter backstroke on Thursday with a time of 55.04 seconds, far ahead of his compatriot Bobby Jovanovich and New Zealand's Gareth Kean, who finished second and third, in 56.54 and 56.82 seconds, respectively.

Just a moment later, the tit-for-tat New Zealanders managed to stage an opposite play. Liz Coster won the women's 100 meter backstroke with a time of 1:01.10, followed by her compatriot Melissa Ingram and Australia's Bridgette-Rose Taylor, who finished in 1:02.48 and 1:03.41, respectively.

In another event of the day, Australia's Amy Smith won the women's 200 meter butterfly with a time of 2:09.63 minutes. Her compatriot Jessica Ash won silver with 2:15.15 and Marissa Yamamoto from Hawaii won bronze with 2:32.37.

With a silver medal already under her belt, New Zealand's Melissa Ingram went for gold in the women's 200m back on Saturday, and she did it within 2:11.03 minutes. Though a little slower than her qualification round, she managed to touch the wall almost four seconds before the silver medalist, Australia's Siobhan Keane, who finished with a time of 2:14.55. Bridgette-Rose Taylor, also from Australia, won bronze with a time of 2:17.32.

The last match day witnessed New Zealander Helen Norfolk's brilliant victory in the women's 200 meter individual medley. She finished in 2:14.74 minutes, edging out Australians Jessica Legge and Blair Evans, who came in second and third, in 2:18.37and 2:20.43, respectively.