New Zealander Glenn Snyders bounced back emphatically to qualify for the semifinals on the third day of heats at the Fina world championships in Kazan, Russia, yesterday.
The 28-year-old North Shore swimmer clocked an excellent 27.23sec to finish seventh-fastest in the 50m breaststroke, in the same heat that titleholder South African Cameron van der Burgh clocked 26.62sec to shave 0.05sec off the world record he set at the 2009 championships when performance-enhancing neoprene suits were still permitted.
Van der Burgh's arch rival, Adam Peaty, of Britain, swam exactly the same time of 26.62sec at the European championships in Berlin last August, but the time has not yet been ratified by Fina.
Snyders set his fastest time of the past 18 months and close to his New Zealand record of 27.06sec to qualify for the semifinals.
The double Olympian impressed after missing out on the semifinals of the 100m breaststroke on the opening day.
Tauranga's Nathan Capp set a New Zealand record in heats of the men's 800m freestyle. The 22 year old, from Swimming New Zealand's High Performance Centre, was fifth in his heat in 7min 57.61sec to break his own national record.
His time was the 20th-fastest and, while he has missed out on qualifying, Capp has improved his world ranking by more than 30 places.
Earlier, Waikato teenager Bradlee Ashby made his world championship debut to clock 2min 04.31sec to be 33rd-ranked in heats of the 200m butterfly.
The 19 year old, now based at Swimming New Zealand's High Performance Centre at AUT Millennium, has improved his world ranking after coming into the championships outside the world's top 50.
