31 Jul 2009

Hayley Palmer breaks national record twice

8:10 am on 31 July 2009

North Shore's Hayley Palmer became the first New Zealand woman to go under the 54 second barrier in the 100 freestyle on the fifth day of the FINA World Swimming Championships in Rome.

19-year-old Palmer, the only women in the New Zealand squad, smashed her own New Zealand record by nearly a second in the morning heat and then lowered it again under the 54 second mark to finish 11th fastest in the semifinals.

Palmer went into the event with the 43rd fastest time in the year.

Her coach Scott Talbot believed she was capable of going under the magical 54-second barrier.

He says her rate of improvement has been excellent this year and today was the absolute best they could get.

There was a further New Zealand record earlier today to Auckland's Kurt Bassett who produced a strong performance in his first significant international meet, taking nearly half a second off his 200 backstroke national mark set in the trials.

Glenn Snyders was outside his best in the heats of the 200 breaststroke, although he was later disqualified.

Tonight Corney Swanepoel and Moss Burmester compete in the 100 butterfly.