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Seventeen-year-old swimmer Annabelle Carey came of age big time to highlight the penultimate night of the Absolute Insurance world championship trials in Auckland tonight.

The young Canterbury swimmer produced a stunning swim to smash her own New Zealand record in the 100m breaststroke and qualify for the Melbourne World Championship in March.

She is the fifth individual qualifier for Melbourne and her swim also ensures that the women’s 4x100m medley relay team will compete in the world championships.

That team could be up to 17 with one day remaining in the trials, if the national selectors utilize the Commonwealth Games times of freestyler Lauren Boyle. The West Auckland swimmer withdrew from the trials after suffering from a bronchial complaint, and the policy allows the selectors to take her best time set this year.

That would qualify the 4x100m and 4x200m women’s freestyle relays, while the men’s 4x200m freestyle relay team qualified on the second day.

North Shore’s Glenn Snyders produced a stunning effort to best the 100m breaststroke semifinalists. His 1:02.55 was a personal best and only 1/10^th of a second off the World Championship qualifying mark. It was good enough to qualify the men’s 4x100m medley relay team for Melbourne.

The South Island also won another title tonight in the form of brilliant 16-year-old prospect Natalie Wiegersma (Southland). The world youth backstroke champion took out the 200m individual medley, her first open national title.

There was good and bad news for North Shore’s Corney Swanepoel who retained his 50m butterfly title but he was 4/10th of a second outside the qualifying time for Melbourne.

Carey was thrilled with her performance which took nearly 1.5 seconds off her old New Zealand record in a major breakthrough as the first women’s breaststroker to go under the 1min 10sec barrier.

”It was awesome. I just relaxed tonight. I always knew I had a 1:10 in me and it give me a lot of confidence now,” Carey said.

Liz Coster edged North Shore teammate Hannah McLean at the top of the semifinalists in the 50m freestyle, but McLean won out over her rival in the 50m backstroke semifinal, in a return to top form for the Commonwealth Games medalist.

The 50m freestyle winner Mark Herring pipped his West Auckland Aquatics clubmate Michael Jack, the 200m freestyle champion, in the semifinals of the 100m freestyle. This sets up a mouthwatering prospect for the final between the sprinter and the endurance swimmer.

In other semifinal action Callum Joll (Napier Aquahawks) topped the 50m backstroke from John Zulch (North Shore), Emma Banks (North Shore) was fastest in the 100m butterfly.

The championships finish tomorrow with the team for Melbourne to be named on Sunday.