Bradlee Ashby got a taste of the Olympics when he swam in the 200m men’s butterfly heats today.
Ashby, 20, is the New Zealand record-holder in the 200m individual medley, but fronted up for the butterfly race as well.
He swam a time of 2min 01.22s, about a second slower than his personal best. His was the 29th and slowest of those recorded in the heats.
The fastest qualifier was Hungarian Tamas Kenderesi, who swam 1min 54.73s. American Michael Phelps, who won his 19th Olympic gold medal yesterday, was the fifth fastest qualifier.