Swimming: Palmer shines in Rome

New Zealand swimmer Hayley Palmer. Photo / Dean Purcell

Hayley Palmer became the first New Zealand woman to dip under the 54-second barrier after a brilliant 100m freestyle at the world swimming championships in Rome this morning (NZ time).

North Shore's Palmer, 19, beat her own New Zealand record by nearly 1sec in the morning heat and then lowered it again under the 54sec mark to finish 11th fastest in the semifinals.

She clocked 54.10sec in the morning heat, three-quarters of a second under her previous New Zealand record set in the relays at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

She then boldly went under that, reducing her record to 53.91sec to be a touch away from making the final.

Palmer went into the event with the 43rd fastest time this year and was rewarded with two bold performances, turning first in 25.44sec which was under world record pace in the penultimate heat that included Australian Olympic champion Libby Trickett.

She again turned first in her semifinal against top qualifier Amanda Weir, of the United States, and was just pipped by another American, former world record holder Dana Vollmer, and Hungarian star Evelyn Verraszto for the final spots in the final.

Palmer's coach Scott Talbot always believed she was capable of going under the 54sec barrier.

"Her rate of improvement has been excellent this year and tonight was the absolute best we could get. I was thrilled that she was able to get such a big PB this morning and back it up by going faster tonight under pressure," Talbot said.

He said the pair had hatched an aggressive plan to take on the star-studded field with her semifinal including the three fastest women in the history of the sport.

"I've always known that Hayley could come back strongly and so we have been working on raw speed this year. So it's no use having that speed and not using it. We are not here to play tiddlywinks so I wanted her to go out hard.

"It was a top performance and so close to making the final in her first world championships."

Talbot said rather than rest of their laurels he was already planning Palmer's future.

"We've got less than a year to the Pan Pacs, 15 months to the Commonwealth Games and less than three years to London. I want to accelerate her times just as quickly as we can.

"I believe with just a few tweaks we can change her technique for the new suits next year and it will not make a difference to her times. It's pretty exciting."

There was another New Zealand today to Aucklander Kurt Bassett, 19, who produced a strong performance in his first significant international meet, taking nearly half a second off his 200m backstroke national mark set in the trials.

The Laser Mt Eden club swimmer showed some of his potential to clock 1min 58.46sec, less than half a second off qualifying for the semifinals.

Bassett clocked the 20th best time after going into the championships with the 38th fastest time this year.

Glenn Snyders was outside his best when clocking 2min 14.02sec in heats of the 200m breaststroke, although he was later disqualified.

In tomorrow's action Corney Swanepoel and Moss Burmester compete in the 100m butterfly.

NEW ZEALAND RESULTS:-

Women's 100m freestyle: Hayley Palmer 54.10sec, 12th, NZ record.

Semifinal 1: Libby Trickett (Australia) 52.84 1, Britta Steffen (Germany) 52.87 2, Fran Halsall (Britain) 53.05 3.

Semifinal 2: Amanda Weir (US) 53.02 1, Ranomi Kromowidjojo (Netherlands) 53.31 2, Dana Vollmer (US) 53.55, 3. Also: Hayley Palmer 53.91sec 6.

Men's 200m backstroke: Kurt Bassett 1min 58.46sec, 20th, NZ record.

Men's 200m breaststroke: Glenn Snyders 2:14.02sec, dsq.

- NZPA