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Disclaimer: Swim of the Week is not meant to be a conclusive selection of the best overall swim of the week, but rather one Featured Swim to be explored in deeper detail. The Swim of the Week is an opportunity to take a closer look at the context of one of the many fast swims this week, perhaps a swim that slipped through the cracks as others grabbed the headlines, or a race we didn’t get to examine as closely in the flood of weekly meets.
A four-year-old National Record was broken twice in the same day during the New Zealand Short Course Championships this week in Auckland, and it was a pair of club teammates who traded the mark.
In the prelims of the women’s 50 backstroke, 19-year-old Savannah-Eve Martin put up a time of 26.73 to break the previous Kiwi Record of 26.74 set by Helena Gasson in January 2021. Close behind her was Amber George, her 20-year-old teammate at Coast Swimming Club, who touched in 26.78.
Then, in the final, George emerged with the victory and a new record, putting up a time of 26.60, while Martin settled for silver in 26.77.
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Coming into the meet, George held a personal best time of 27.18, set in August 2024, while Martin’s previous PB sat at 26.98 from the 2024 Short Course World Championships, where she finished 20th.
George also won the 100 back (58.26), placed 7th in the 50 free (25.65) and took 8th in the 100 free (56.06) at the meet, while Martin placed 5th in the 100 back (59.69) and 9th in the 50 fly (27.90).
Both swimmers represented New Zealand at the 2025 LC World Championships this past summer in Singapore, with George placing 25th in the women’s 50 back (28.54) and Martin (28.74) taking 29th. George also raced the 100 back, finishing 29th in 1:02.16 after setting a new best of 1:00.84 in May.
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