Like many teenage swimmers around the world, yesterday was just another day for Emily Seebohm, 15, as she set off to a Brisbane Catholic schoolgirls event.

Then she set herself apart, falling just 0.01sec of world record pace in the 50m backstroke. She had a head start: dad, John, was a 300-game player in the South Australian Football League, and mum, Karen, is a former Australian league netball player.

Their daughter's effort at the Chandler Aquatic Centre, of 28.10sec, fell just shy of the time clocked by Yang Li (CHN) on October last year, and was 0.06sec inside the time in which Leila Vaziri (USA) claimed the world title in a then world record. Watch for Yang in Beijing. Watch for Seebohm too.

Coach Matt Brown told reporters that Seebohm had matured physically in the past year and is no longer the little girl looking for speed only attainable to older competitors.

Seebohm clocked 1:00.52, an Australian record, at the world championships in Melbourne last yea, when her 50m best was 28.80sec. The maths is not difficult.