Swimming: Commonwealth qualifier signals intent

Glenn Snyders missed out on qualifying for New Delhi in the 200m breaststroke but has his favoured 100m today. Photo / Steven McNicholl

Beijing Olympian Daniel Bell wants to ring out a warning for his rivals after qualifying for the Commonwealth Games on the second night of finals at the New Zealand Championship in Waitakere City last night.

Bell, a 100m specialist, qualified in the 200m backstroke at the West Wave Aquatic Centre.

He clocked a personal best of 1m 58.96s to go under the qualifying mark for the Commonwealth Games by half a second, bringing the qualifiers to four after two nights.

But for a fingertip it would have been six qualifiers with the North Shore pair of Emily Thomas and Glenn Snyders only fractions from the target times in the 100m backstroke and 200m breaststroke respectively.

Thomas, the former Gisborne swimmer, led a North Shore charge in the women's 100m backstroke to win in 1m 01.51s, just 2/10ths of a second off the qualifying time for New Delhi.

It was even closer for Snyders who was the class of the field in winning the men's 200m breaststroke in 2m 13.55s which was only 13/100ths of a second off the qualifying mark, although he has his specialist 100m event today.

Bell led from the start but was pushed all the way by former national record holder Gareth Kean (Capital) with the pair going through the midway mark in 57 seconds with Bell just 4/10ths of a second off Kurt Bassett's New Zealand record.

"I am really happy with that. The 200 is not my main race so to get a qualifying time in that relieves a lot of pressure for the 100. I am now looking forward and upwards," Bell said.

"It's a real confidence boost leading up to the Commonwealth Games. All of the top backstrokers in the world are now swimming the 200m. It helps with some back-end endurance for the 100m.

Snyders, a specialist 100m breaststroker, was a semifinalist in the 200m in Beijing. He looked on track at the 150m mark but faded a fraction, coming home to clock 2m 13.55s.

Thomas led out well in the women's 100m backstroke to be the only swimmer under the 30-second barrier through 50m, withholding the storming finish from Olympian Melissa Ingram in 1m 01.51s with North Shore swimmers filling the first four places. The 19-year-old had already gone under the target time in Australia and is the national record holder.

Hayley Palmer (North Shore) gave her campaign for selection to New Delhi a boost when she broke the national record in the 50m freestyle.

The 20-year-old, 11th in the world championships last year over 100m, stormed home in 25.36s to go under Toni Jeffs' eight-year-old record by 7/100th of a second.

Commonwealth Games qualifier Natalie Wiegersma (Waverley) added another title in winning the 100m butterfly after her 200m individual medley triumph on the opening night.

The championships continue until Friday.