The major players at the New Zealand swimming nationals set themselves up for a tilt at further world championship qualification on the penultimate morning of heats in Auckland today.
Olympian Hayley Palmer led qualifiers in the heats of the 100m freestyle in 56.46s, a little more than a second outside the qualifying mark for the world championships. Palmer faces a strong test in tonight's finals with the top six swimmers, led by Tash Hind and Lauren Boyle, within half a second.
Wellington's Gareth Kean topped qualifiers in the heats of the 200m backstroke in 2:01.72 to be comfortably clear of Kurt Crosland and Ben Gillies.
In an all-Canterbury battle, Abbie Johnston's time of 2:35.94 was fastest in heats of the 200m breaststroke ahead of Natasha Lloyd, while US-based Glenn Snyders impressed with a 2:14.06 effort to lead heats of the 200m breaststroke.
Australian-based Michael Minchum topped qualifiers in the 1500m freestyle in 15:59.91, just ahead of London Olympian Dylan Dunlop-Barrett in 16:00.58.
