Swimming: 12-year freestyle wait over

Helen Norfolk returns for the 200m freestyle finals tonight. Picture / Paul Estcourt

Helen Norfolk, who won her heat of the women's 200 metres individual medley, returns for the 200m freestyle finals tonight. Picture / Paul Estcourt

A 12-year wait is over for Nichola Chellingworth. After failing by just 0.3s as a 14-year-old to qualify for the 1994 Commonwealth Games in her favourite 50m freestyle, she last night made it.

She had qualified in the 50m butterfly earlier at the national championships/Games trials at the West Wave Aquatic Centre but there was special satisfaction last night in going under the required 26.11s to double book her ticket to Melbourne.

Chellingworth, living for the past seven years in Australia but competing as a member of the super-strong North Shore team, swam 25.96s - a fraction outside her personal best - but good enough to head 100m champion Alison Fitch and win the first semifinal.

"I just wanted to swim as hard as I could," said Chellingworth who has come a long way since those early days when she trained under David Wright in Wellington where the emphasis was on big training miles. "I'm starting to get stronger which is shown in my 100m."

While the mad one-length dash brought joy for Chellingworth, there was only despair for Corney Swanepoel and Toni Jeffs over the same distance.

Following Chellingworth and Fitch into the pool in the second semifinal and with Australian Michelle Englesman to drag her through, veteran Jeffs, bidding for a fourth Games' team, was second in 26.24s - just shy of the 26.11s she needed. Given her improvement from the morning heat to last night's semi, Jeffs should get her time in tonight's final.

In one of the first races on last night's eighth session of the championships, Swanepoel tossed off his cap after winning the 50m butterfly.

He won but his 24.31s was a fraction slower than his semifinal time and still outside the 24.21s needed to claim his ticket.

"It felt fine," said an obviously disillusioned Swanepoel.

"It just was not fast enough."

However, he has the opportunity to swim the butterfly leg in the championship finale 4x100m medley relay tonight and produce a time which could see him grab the last spot for Melbourne.

Young Canterbury breaststroker Annabelle Carey, 16, again broke her national 100m record but her 1m 10.51s was almost half a second outside the target.

Helen Norfolk completed the individual medley double in comfortably retaining her 200m title (as she had done in the 400m), again going under the qualifying time.

"I had to qualify for that event," said Norfolk, who returns tonight for the 200m freestyle final in which she will chase a personal best.

Daniel Sharp, who has already qualified for the 50m freestyle for swimmers with a disability, swam solo over 100m to record 58.20s and a second qualifying time.

Liz Coster recorded the fastest time in the 100m butterfly semifinals of 1m 00.72s, under the 1m 01.04s requirement and not too far away from the record (1m 00.47s) she set almost two years ago.

Dean Kent continued to rule the pool with his win in the first 100m breaststroke semifinal. His 1m 03.62s swim was fast enough to ensure New Zealand will have a 4x100m medley relay team at the Games.

The championships end tonight. The team for Melbourne will be announced by the New Zealand Olympic Committee tomorrow.