Gold Coast teenager Leiston Pickett has finished off her first year of international competition in style, winning silver in the women’s 50m breaststroke on night two of finals at the 2010 FINA World Short Course Championships in Dubai.

Pickett, who won silver at the Pan Pacific Championships in Irvine and gold at the Commonwealth Games in Delhi, has made a habit of standing on the podium in 2010 and has gained in confidence in what has been a breakout year for the 18-year-old.

Trailing the field at the 25m turn, the tyro came home strongly over the last 25m to finish just 0.01 of a second behind the USA’s Rebecca Soni (29.83) in a new personal best time of 29.84, to take the silver medal with Sarah Katsoulis finishing 8th in 30.34.

“I finished school last year and just missed out on the worlds team, and I came into this year not really expecting much just really looking at 2012, but I’m really happy with the little steps that I’m making along the way,” said Pickett.

“I thought I was doing the 100m here but actually wasn’t, but I have ramped up my 100m breaststroke training and I definitely want to make that team for London in the 100.”

“It has been a great experience doing a lot of international racing this year and hopefully I can carry that through to the World Championship trials next year.”

In the women’s 50m butterfly semi finals Felicity Galvez swam an all-time personal best of 25.20 to set a new championship record only to see Therese Alshammar from Sweden better it by 0.01 of a second in the second semi.

Improving on her personal best of 25.25, swam in a fast suit last year, Galvez said she joked about breaking the championship record with her coach John Fowlie before the race.

“John and I kind of joked about it before the race and then I did it, and now it’s gone again, but there is always tomorrow night in the final,” said Galvez.

World champion over the long course in the 50m butterfly in Rome last year, Marieke Guehrer will swim from lane 8 in the final after hitting the wall in 25.76. 

In the men’s 100m breaststroke final Brenton Rickard finished fifth in 57.79 with South African Cameron Van der Burgh taking gold in a championship record time of 56.80 while Victorian Rachel Goh also finished fifth in the final of the 100m backstroke in 57.36.

The women’s 800m freestyle timed final saw Blair Evans from West Australia finish sixth fastest overall with a time of 8:16.52, and Katie Goldman from the Gold Coast 12th in 8:23.47.

The final medal of the night went to Russia with their men’s 4x200m freestyle relay team setting a new world record of 6:49.04 while the Australian team of Patrick Murphy, Mitchell Dixon, Kyle Richardson and Tommaso D’Orsogna finishing fifth in 6:57.41.

In other events tonight…

Women’s 100m Freestyle Semi Final
Commonwealth champion in the 50m butterfly Marieke Guehrer was the seventh fastest through to the final of the women’s 100m freestyle in a time of 52.95 while Frederike Heemskerk from the Netherlands will swim from lane 4 as the fastest qualifier in 52.57. Sixteen-year-old Youth Olympic Games medallist Emma McKeon from Wollongong will swim in her first senior international final after a personal best time of 53.03 saw her secure lane 8.

Women’s 100m IM
Tyro and eight-time Trans Tasman gold medallist Kotuku Ngawati won her heat of the women’s 100m IM in a personal best time of 59.18 to qualify second fastest for tomorrow night’s final. Ngawati will have to contest with the USA’s Arian Kukors who set a new championship record time of 58.65 to win the second semi final.

Men’s 50m Freestyle – Semi Final
Commonwealth Games relay gold medallist Kyle Richardson had to wait until the final swim of the night before knowing whether he was in the final of the men’s 50m freestyle or not.  Tying for eighth place in a time of 21.29, Richardson had to swim off with Josh Schneider from the US less than 20 minutes after anchoring Australia’s 4x200m freestyle relay, only to lose the swim off with a time of 21.28 compared to Schneider's 21.19.  Australian record holder Matthew Abood finished in 14th place overall in a time of 21.48.

Swimming Australia