Swimming: Three records in one night

North Shore's Dean Kent dug deep to break his own New Zealand record on the fourth night of finals at the national championships in Wellington last night.

He dominated the 200m individual medley, breaking his own record by nearly half a second and bagging a second world championships qualifying mark.

It was one of three New Zealand records set, all by North Shore swimmers.

Clubmates Cameron Gibson and Scott Talbot-Cameron both went under the New Zealand record in the 50m backstroke final. Gibson grabbed his fourth title this week in a time of 26.23s, just 0.1s outside world championship qualifying.

Talbot-Cameron finished 0.03s behind Gibson and a fingertip from world championship qualification.

Their clubmate Hannah McLean broke her own New Zealand record in topping qualifiers for tomorrow night's final of the 50m backstroke. She recorded 29.29s in the semfinals, 0.35s inside her old mark and just 0.04s from world championship qualification.

Wharenui won their second title of the night, when 14-year-old Annabelle Carey added the 100m breaststroke win to the 50m breaststroke she won earlier in the meet.

Wellington 13-year-old Jordyn Mahanga finished third, and set a national age group record in the process.

Christchurch teenager Arjun Haszard grabbed his first open title, claiming the men's 1500m freestyle in 16:04.48. The 18-year-old, from the Wharenui club, assumed control after the first 100m and was on sub-16-minute pace until late in the race.

Sydney Olympian Helen Norfolk (North Shore) took the medley double when she won the 200m individual medley over rival and Manchester Commonwealth Games medallist Liz Van Welie.

Norfolk, who led from the start, finished two seconds outside the world championship qualifying time. She has already qualified in the 400m medley.

South African-born Matthew Palmer (West Auckland Aquatics) and Alison Fitch (North Shore) were the top qualifiers in the semifinals of the 50m freestyle.

Kent was doubly determined to record a top performance after he was disappointed with his effort in the 400m medley.

"I knew I had good skills and good technique coming into the meet, but I was unsure about my aerobic base," said Kent, who recently returned from his outstanding short course campaign in Europe, where he moved to No 2 in the world.

"I had a rest after coming back and that did not give me much time to prepare for this meet, so I am really pleased with that tonight."

Kent said he was looking to qualify for the finals in Barcelona.