The North Shore swimmer Corney Swanepoel has broken his own national record in the final of the 100 butterfly at the New Zealand Open Swim Championships in Christchurch.
The 23-year-old beat off fellow Beijing Olympians Moss Burmester and Daniel Bell at the QE2 Leisure Centre.
The meet doubles as the official trial for July's world championships in Rome with swimmers having to meet the new tough FINA 900 point mark.
Swanepoel, Burmester and Bell all achieved the qualifying mark and set new personal bests, but with a limit of two swimmers per event, Bell missed out on qualifying for Rome.
The 18-year-old later broke his own New Zealand record to retain his title in the 50-metre backstroke. As it is a non-Olympic event he had to meet a 1000-point qualifying target and was just short. But if he qualifies for the world championships later in the meet, he can swim the 50-metre backstroke as a second event.
Also through to the world championships is Beijing Olympic semifinalist Glenn Snyders, who broke his own national record in the heats of the 100 breaststroke.
