Championships have achieved their first objective.

Both Stephen Fahy and Stephen Troake yesterday swam fast enough in the same 100-metre freestyle heat to meet the Commonwealth Games qualifying standard.

Fahy got an explosive start off the block, powering through the first 50m in 25.60 to finish second with a time of 53.47 -- .8 seconds faster than his previous personal best, set in Cuba last summer.

Troake was marginally slower over the first 50m -- clocking 26.10 -- but finished in fifth place with a time of 54.68.

Both times were well within the 54.90 time needed for qualification for the Commonwealth Games in Malaysia later this year, although not quite good enough for either to make the finals in the current event. Only the 16 fastest swimmers from the 11 heats qualified for the main final or consolation.

However, the team's coach, Richard Goodwin, speaking yesterday from their base at the Sheraton Hotel in Perth, said he was "elated'' with the pair's performances.

"It's going very well,'' he said. "I was particularly pleased with Fahy's performance -- he was almost a second faster than he was about six months ago.'' Local attention now turns to Troake's assault on the 100m backstroke today. He needs to swim around 1:01.03 to ensure Commonwealth Games qualification. After that, Troake will contest the 50m freestyle while Fahy competes in the 100m butterfly and 200m individual medley. "The guys are very upbeat and confident and I think we are going to see another set of good swims,'' said Goodwin.

Also yesterday, four more Chinese swimmers were suspended for drugs, strengthening accusations that have shadowed the team for years and prompting calls for China to be removed from the world championships.

The United States won two titles and Olympic gold medallist Alexander Popov took the men's 100-metre freestyle. But the focus of the championships again was on drugs and China's team.

FINA, swimming's governing body, said Wang Wei of China's men's team and Wang Luna, Cai Huijue and Zhang Yi of the women's team tested positive for the banned diuretic triamterene and were immediately suspended.

The federation also announced suspensions against two other Chinese team members involved in last week's seizure of a banned performance-enhancer.

Yuan Yuan, a swimmer caught by Australian customs on January 8 with human growth hormones in her suitcase, was given a four-year suspension. Coach Zhou Zhewen, who said he placed the drugs in the suitcase, was banned for 15 years, although FINA said it would review his case after ten years.

Australian coach Don Talbot wants China kicked out of the championships.

"They should not compete anymore at this meet,'' he said. "The medals should be returned or taken back.'' In New York, IOC president Juan Antonio Samaranch said drug use by Chinese athletes hurt that country's hopes of holding the Summer Games.

"They have the right to pursue a bid,'' he said. "But it is up to the IOC members what is acceptable. I think they would be in trouble.'' The positive tests for triamterene came from samples collected on January 8.

FINA said the four are suspended until another sample taken at the same time could be analysed. There were 12 samples taken on that day, a FINA official said, and not all have been returned, raising the possibility of more positive tests. The Chinese also were tested January 9, but those results are not known.

Diuretics are sometimes used by athletes to reduce weight quickly. But medical officials say diuretics also are used to reduce the concentration of drugs in urine in an attempt to flush drugs from the system.

Chinese swimmers, who burst onto the international scene in the past decade, have spent years dealing with drug accusations. "It just proves something is going on,'' US coach Jon Urbanchek said.