Jamie Cooke broke his own modern pentathlon swimming world record to join British team-mate Nick Woodbridge in qualifying for Sunday's men's final at the first World Cup of the year in Charlotte, USA.
The 21-year-old world junior champion, the only British man so far to have achieved the Olympic qualifying standard, clocked one minute 54.25 seconds for the 200 metres freestyle in semi-final C, taking 0.35secs off the time he set at the World Cup Final in London last year.
Woodbridge also had a good swim and the British pair finished in a group at the head of the field in the final event, the combined run-and-shoot, to comfortably achieve their target of a top-12 place.
Cheltenham athlete Cooke said: "I didn't think I'd swim that fast. It was really tough in the last length and I think Nick was coming back at me."
There was disappointment, though, for Steven Mason and Sam Weale, who both missed out on the final after finishing 18th and 23rd in their respective semi-finals.
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