Lauren Boyle has wiped a massive amount off her own national 1500m freestyle record to qualify for the final on the second day of heats at the FINA World Swimming Championships in Barcelona.
The 400m freestyle bronze medallist from the opening day took 14 seconds off her New Zealand record to finish sixth fastest in the heats of the non-Olympic distance and will contest the final tomorrow.
Teammate Gareth Kean will also race in a final following a strong performance in his 100m backstroke semifinal this morning. Kean grabbed the final qualifying spot for tomorrow's final on the second night of action.
Matthew Stanley qualified 11th fastest for the semifinals of the 200m freestyle but did not advance after finishing eighth in 1:48.35, slower than his heat swim.
Swimming in the first of three heats, Boyle clocked 16:02.90 to finish third behind the 2011 world champion Lotte Friis (DEN) who was the fastest qualifier in 15:49.26. Boyle's time was a tick under 14 seconds faster than her New Zealand record of 16:16.83 set at the New Zealand Open Championships in March.
The 25-year-old set a solid schedule, not drawn into the blistering early pace by Friis who was well under the world record split in the early stages. The Kiwi went through the 400m in 4:12, the 800m in 8:30 and the 1200 in 12:48 in a controlled performance.
Friis was fastest overall, a shade ahead of yesterday's 400m gold medallist Katie Ledecky (USA) with Chilean veteran Kristel Kobrich third fastest, with the trio the only swimmers under the 16 minute barrier.
- Herald Online
