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Erika Fairweather led a strong New Zealand effort in the first session of swimming.
The 22-year-old was the fastest qualifier for the women's 400m freestyle final, and will be joined by fellow New Zealanders Caitlin Deans and Eve Thomas.
Fairweather swam a brisk 4min 06.42s, to head off three Australians, Lani Pallister, Jenni Forrester and Amelia Weber. Deans was fifth fastest qualifier with 4min 10.16s and Thomas was seventh fastest with 4min 11.05s.
'A good, cruisy swim,' was how Fairweather described her effort. She was pleased to be through to the final without any problems. Thomas began her heat knowing she'd need a top three placing to be assured of a spot in the final. 'I knew i had to finish well,' she said, 'and I was pleased with my swim.'
Also competing in the evening finals will be individual medley specialist Lewis Clareburt. Swimming over his favoured 400m distance, Clareburt felt anything under 2 minutes would be satisfactory.
He placed second in his heat in 1min 58.79s, which eventually placed him fourth among the finalists. There was only 0.39s between the first and eighth qualifiers and the final promises to be extremely competitive.
'I'd have thought 1min 58s was fast and was quite surprised at the times, but I'm feeling good for the final,' he said.
In the women's 50m butterfly, Hazel Ouwehand and Zoe Pedersen both qualified for the final. Pedersen was fifth fastest and Ouwehand seventh fastest of the 52 swimmers who contested the heats.