Hawke's Bay's Bobbi Gichard swam her 100m backstroke semifinal late last night at the junior world championships in Singapore.
Greendale's Gichard, who is coached by Noel Hardgrave-Booth, qualified fifth fastest from the heats with a personal best time of 1m01.12s - under her national age group record set in May.
"That was good for a heat swim to get a personal best. I am looking forward to the semifinal tonight and swimming faster," Gichard said.
Fellow Kiwi 15-year-old, Aucklander Gabrielle Fa'amausili, was the fourth fastest in the heats.
With her time of 1m00.86s, Fa'amausili, took almost 0.4s off Gichard's previous record.