Corney Swanepoel was the best of the New Zealanders in the pool on the opening day of the FINA world swimming championships in Rome.
Swanepoel was the first of the kiwis to make the semifinals after he broke his own national record in the heats of the 50 butterfly.... however he failed to reach that mark again as he finished 8th in his semi-final.
Head coach Jan Cameron says Swanepoel is showing good speed for his main event, the 100m butterfly later in the meet.
In the same event Daniel Bell matched his personal best but failed to make the semi-finals.
Butterfly specialist Moss Burmester did not qualify for the finals of the 400m freestyle.... while Glenn Snyders also did not progress in the 100m breaststroke.
There were 5 world records on the opening night of finals, while the American star Michael Phelps won his first gold as a part of the 100 freestyle relay team.
