State New Zealand Open Championships – Day 2 Heats

US-based breaststroker Glenn Snyders grabbed his second qualifying performance on the second day of heats at the State New Zealand Open Swimming Championships in Auckland today.

Snyders, who turned 27 this week, clocked 1:00.52 in heats of the 100m breaststroke which is under the qualifying times for both the Commonwealth Games and Pan Pacific Championships.

This follows the efforts of the North Shore swimmer going under the qualifying mark in the 200m breaststroke on the opening night of the championships, which double as the official trial for the Commonwealth Games.

There’s a battle looming in the men’s 200m backstroke with Corey Main (Howick Pakuranga) fastest in 2:00.40 but only 9/100ths of a second ahead of Dunedin’s Kurt Crosland. They chase a qualifying time of 1:58.81 tonight.

Matamata’s Matthew Stanley topped qualifiers in the 100m freestyle in an impressive 50.06 ahead of Main and Steven Kent, as he looks to add a further qualifying time to the 400m freestyle he set last night.

World junior champion Gabriella Fa’amausili (Roskill) was quickest in the heats of the 100m backstroke in a personal best 1:01.53 ahead of fellow 14 year old Bobbi Gichard (Greendale).

North Shore’s Laura Quilter topped heats of the 50m freestyle in 26.63 ahead of Fa’aumsili by just 3/100ths of a second while Paul Benson (Sundevils) was fastest in the 50m butterfly heats in 24.61 and US-based Natasha Lloyd (North Canterbury) was fastest in 50m breaststroke in 32.80s.

Tonight’s finals session starts at 7pm.

NZ Open Championships