Robert Tobin registered early intent for a place in the Norwich Union GB World Championships team with an outstanding 400metres victory in Geneva.

Tobin bettered the qualifying standard by almost half a second by winning at the Swiss venue in a time of 45.01 seconds.

The Basingstoke athlete's personal best performance - he is coached by former British international Todd Bennett - would have topped last summer's British rankings.

Now he is confidently eyeing one of the three slots in the side when Helsinki hosts the championships in August.

While Tobin, who was sixth fastest in last year's UK lists, celebrated his victory, Daniel Caines slumped to fifth position in the race with a time of 46.58secs. Graham Hedman, the UK Inter-Counties champion, was also successful in his 400m outing in his race in Geneva, in a time of 46.61secs.

James McIlroy, who will race over 800m in next weekend's European Cup, posted a solid 400m time of 46.50secs to win the Northern Ireland title in Belfast.