OLYMPIC hopes are fast fading for swim ace Robyn Lamsam after she failed to reach the qualifying standards in the selection trials at the Kowloon Park pool yesterday. Lamsam, a holder of 19 Hong Kong records, swam the 50, 200 and 400 metres freestyle at the trials, but did not go close to the qualifying times for Atlanta. 'I expected to do pretty well, but this is my first competition in six months and I was too nervous and just freaked out in the 200 metres,' said the 18-year-old, Hong Kong's lone woman swimmer at the 1992 Barcelona Games. 'I was so upset after the 200 that it was difficult to pick myself up for the other events, but I'm quite happy with 27.97 seconds for the 50 which wasn't bad considering that it was a back-to-back with the 400.' Lamsam's best times for all the freestyle distances are well inside the Olympic standards, but she has been struggling to find her best form after joining Chinese coach Zhang Diyong early last year. She has now gone back to train with Joe Hung and has stepped up her gym work to improve her fitness level. Only three Hong Kong swimmers - Michael Wright, Arthur Li Kai-yien and Mark Kwok Kin-ming - have beaten the Olympic standards but 16 others, including Lamsam, will have one last chance of qualifying at the Asian Championships in Bangkok from April 11-15.
