The Wellington swimmer Gareth Kean has signalled he wants to be a force to be reckoned with in the London Olympics after an impressive qualifying performance on the penultimate night of finals at the New Zealand Swimming Championships in Auckland.
The 20-year-old, coached by Gary Hurring, followed up a qualifying performance in the morning heat by breaking his New Zealand record in the 200 backstroke.
His time bettered the New Zealand record he set at the 2010 Commonwealth Games by 0.2 seconds and was more than a second inside the London qualifying mark.
Kean, who has also qualified in the 100 backstroke, says the 200 was the key at this meet as he wanted to compete in more than one race in London.
Kean sparked an outstanding night of racing with Lauren Boyle going under the qualifying mark in the 800 freestyle - her third qualifying event of the meet.
The women's 4 by 100 freestyle relay team went under the target of 12th fastest time in the world based on last year's world championships and will await FINA selection in June for one of the remaining four fastest nations for London.
The number of individuals under the qualifying time remains at seven in 13 performances along with the women's 4x200m freestyle relay while the men's 4x200 freestyle and women's 4x100m freestyle relay teams will await a FINA invitation in June.
The New Zealand Olympic swim team will be named tonight.
