KEY POINTS:
New Zealand swim coach Jan Cameron is delighted with the platform set eight months out from the Beijing Olympic Games.
Thirteen swimmers qualified for the world short-course championships in England in April from the national short-course meet which ended in Auckland yesterday.
Eight New Zealand records were established,
with a mix of the established stars and youthful talent in the team to compete in Manchester.
Cameron said the qualifying standard for the world championships were tough and close to the Fina A times set for the Olympics.
"We raised the bar and the swimmers really responded," Cameron said.
"I am delighted. I thought we might get up to 10 swimmers through but to qualify 13 is outstanding."
Cameron said she was pleased that proven stars like Helen Norfolk and Moss Burmester continued to show improvement, while the meet also unearthed the likes of Hayley Palmer, 18, and Daniel Bell, 17, who both qualified for the world event.
"That shows that our youth programme is identifying the very best talent and nurturing them well. It's very encouraging to see the first two push through to the top level."
One New Zealand record and three qualifying marks were set in yesterday's last session of finals.
North Shore's Robert Voss, who qualified for the world championships in the 400m freestyle, broke Danyon Loader's 10-year national record for the 800m freestyle.
Voss recorded a time of 7m 52.73s, half a second under the previous mark, which he set on the first half of the men's 1500m.
Butterfly exponents Corney Swanepoel and Burmester duked it out under the world championships qualifying mark in the 100m butterfly.
Swanepoel edged his clubmate in 52.20s with Burmester 7/100ths of a second behind.
"It's great for both of us to be training together," Swanepoel said.
"We get to train and challenge each other every day which is great."
Norfolk also went under the qualifying mark for the second time in winning the 200m freestyle in 1m 57.66s to complete an outstanding meet with three qualifying events and two national records.
Bell, of West Auckland, was in the winner's circle in the 100m backstroke in 53.16s, 1.5s inside his previous best.
It was only 2/10ths outside the world championships qualifying time but it was good enough to ensure New Zealand will qualify for the men's medley relay for Manchester.
"I am going to use the world championships as a learning curve," Bell said.
"I was not expecting to qualify but it all came off which is great," said Bell, who also set an age group record in each of his six swims this week.
England-based Cameron Gibson beat young hope Orinoco Faamausili Banse, of Laser Mt Eden, and West Auckland's Mark Herring to win the 50m freestyle in 22.13s, with 3/10ths separating the top three.
Other winners yesterday included Charlotte Webby (Bell Block) in the 200m butterfly, Annabelle Carey (Aquagym) in the 50m breaststroke, Glenn Snyders (North Shore) in the 200m breaststroke, Katie Bone (North Shore) in the 200m individual medley, Liz Coster (North Shore) in the 50m backstroke, Dean Kent (North Shore) in the 400m medley, and Bryn Murphy (Waves) in the 1500m.
- NZPA