2023 SOUTH ISLAND LONG COURSE CHAMPIONSHIPS
- Friday, March 3rd – Sunday, March 5th
- Splash Palace, Invercargill, New Zealand
- LCM (50m)
- Results – Meet Mobile: South Island LC Championships 2023
New Zealand’s Erika Fairweather has produced her second national record in as many days while competing at the South Island Long Course Championships.
Racing in the women’s 200m freestyle, 19-year-old Fairweather crushed a new lifetime best of 1:56.73 to win the event by over 11 seconds. The Neptune Swim Club athlete opened in 57.65 and closed in 59.08 to put up the fastest time of her career and her first outing under the 1:57 barrier.
Entering this meet, Fairweather’s personal best rested at the 1:57.08 she posted at last year’s Commonwealth Games. That garnered her a 5th place finish in Birmingham while a year earlier she placed 16th in this 200m free at the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo with a time of 1:59.14 despite having logged a swifter 1:57.26 in the heats.
Olympian Lauren Boyle held the previous New Zealand national record at the 1:56.82 punched at the 2014 Commonwealth Games.
With Fairweather’s result here, she now becomes the 5th fastest 200m free performer in the world this season.
2022-2023 LCM Women 200 Free
O'Callaghan
1:52.85 WR
| 2 | Ariarne Titmus | AUS | 1:53.01 | 07/26 |
| 3 | Summer McIntosh | CAN | 1:53.65 WJR | 07/26 |
| 4 | Siobhan Haughey | HKG | 1:53.96 | 07/26 |
| 5 | Katie Ledecky | USA | 1:54.96 | 03/02 |
Fairweather’s 200m freestyle record pairs with the 400m free mark she registered last night. Her time of 4:00.97 renders her the 8th fastest performer in history in that longer event.
She probably can swim faster than 1:56.73 200m if she able to do 4:00.9 in 400m distance.
On the other hand Ledecky was 1:56.3 when she broke 4min barrier. But I am not sure if Ledecky’s story can be used as benchmark.