2019 NEW ZEALAND OPEN CHAMPIONSHIPS
- Monday, June 17th – Friday, June 21st
- Sir Owen G. Glenn National Aquatic Centre, Auckland, NZ
- LCM
- Meet Site
- New Zealand Selection Policy for 2019 World Championships
- Psych Sheets
- SwimSwam Preview
- Day 1 Recap/Day 2 Recap
- Results
- Live Stream
The highlight of night 3 of the 2019 New Zealand Open Championships came courtesy of Erika Fairweather, as the 15-year-old raced her way to a new lifetime best and World Championships-worthy mark of 4:09.33 to take 400m free gold.
Fairweather hacked almost 3 seconds off of her previous lifetime best of 4:12.10 notched just this past spring to check-in with a new New Zealand Age Record for 15-year-olds as well as punch her ticket to Gwangju. You can read more about her impressive outing here.
Behind her was Coast’s Eve Thomas, who collected silver in 4:11.74, registering a new New Zealand 18 Years Age Record with her effort this evening in Auckland. That time also dips under the development consideration time of 4:13.08 applied to females born 2000 or later. That means Thomas may also have a shot at Worlds qualification should any spots remain when all is said and done.
National record holder Helena Gasson fell short of Worlds qualification in the women’s 200m IM, but still produced gold in tonight’s final. She punched the clock in a time of 2:13.99 this morning, a mark sitting less than a second away from the FINA A cut of 2:13.03. But tonight she produced just 2:15.20, still enough to top the field.
The women’s 100m back saw a slight upset as 18-year-old North Shore starlet Gina Galloway denied a backstroke double from Ali Galyer. Galyer had taken the 200m back title on night 1, but Galloway took the gold this evening, clocking a mark of 1:01.47. That included a sub-30 opener of 29.87 for the teen on her way to a new New Zealand Age Record for 18-year-olds.
UCSD-bound Galloway’s time tonight marks the first outing under 1:02, as her previous lifetime best was represented by the 1:02.25 clocked last year.
As for Galyer, she took silver in 1:01.73, off her PB of 1:01.20, with Gabriele Fa’amausili wrapping up bronze in 1:02.16
Additional Day 3 Winners:
- 19-year-old Zac Reid of Aquabladz made it happen in the men’s 400m free, clocking 3:50.61 to win by 5 seconds.
- The men’s 100m fly saw Bradlee Ashby take the title in a time of 53.75. This is his 2nd title after winning the 100m back on nigh 1 here in Auckland.
- Matthew Holder won the men’s 50m breast in 28.61, clinching a New Zealand Age Record for 18-year-old in the process.
- Mt. Eden’s Kane Follows reaped gold in the men’s 200m back in 1:58.86.
- Sophie Pascoe (QEII) clocked a time of 2:25.43 seconds in the women’s S9 200m IM. This time slightly slower than the World Para-Swimming (WPS) World Record which she currently holds at 2:25.22 seconds. Pascoe also swam under the qualification time for the 2019 World Para-Swimming (WPS) Championships which is to be held in London in September.
