KEY POINTS:
Liz Coster and Hannah McLean pushed each other into the New Zealand team for next year's world championships on the second day of trials in Auckland.
Coster edged out her North Shore teammate to win the 100m backstroke final in 1m 02.05s.
"I kind of died towards the end,' Coster said. "But I just had my eyes shut and was spinning my arms as fast as I could."
McLean finished in 1m 02.35s, also within the qualifying time of 1m 02.49s.
"We do all our training together so have a fair idea of where each other are at," Coster said. "It makes it a really wicked environment to be pushing each other every day."
Eight swimmers have now qualified for the March world championships in Melbourne.
With Dean Kent and Zoe Baker, who qualified on opening night, Coster and McLean join a men's 4 x 200m freestyle relay team which has yet to be decided.
After qualifying in the 100m breaststroke on the opening day, British born Baker swam under the required time in the 50m breaststroke last night.
"To qualify is what I came here to do but I did have expectations of going faster than I did," Baker said. "I have been swimming faster than those times [in training]. At the end of the day I need to be a lot faster than that if I want to win world championship titles next year."
Baker, who held the world record for the 50m breaststroke in 2002, finished fifth in last year's world championships in Montreal. The event was her first competition for New Zealand.
"After my world record I kind of slacked off a little, let my hair down and enjoyed life. It has been a long, hard road getting back but I feel I am getting there."
At 30, Baker is the oldest of New Zealand's current group of top swimmers.
"In terms of sprinting I guess I am coming towards the end of my career but I still have a couple of years left in me," she said.
"I didn't peak until about 26. That is when I broke my first world record: a lot of people have retired by then.
"I think it will hopefully show youngsters not to give up when you are 22 or 23. What I know now I wish I knew 10 years ago."
Commonwealth Games bronze medallist Moss Burmester beat teammate Corney Swanepoel to win the 100m butterfly but his time of 53.62s was just outside the qualifying mark of 53.54s.
Auckland swimmer Mark Herring broke the New Zealand 50m freestyle record which had been held by his older brother Brad.
The Auckland women's 4x100m freestyle relay team of Alison Fitch, Melissa Ingram, Hannah McLean and Helen Norfolk also broke the national record but missed the qualifying mark.
However, if the selectors choose to take Lauren Boyle's best time they may be included in the world championship team. Boyle missed the event through illness.
Samantha Richter, 17, who arrived in New Zealand only three weeks ago from Zimbabwe, won the 50m butterfly in 28.68s. The world championship qualifying time is 26.98s.
