Clareburt, Fairweather & Thomas Close Out NZL Championships In Style

2024 NEW ZEALAND SWIMMING CHAMPIONSHIPS

• Tuesday, April 9th – Saturday, April 13th
• Hawke’s Bay Regional Aquatic Centre
• LCM (50m)
• Olympic Selection Criteria 
• Meet Central
• Entries/Live Results
• Livestream
• Day 1 Recap/Day 2 Recap/Day 3 Recap/Day 4 Recap

The final day of the 2024 New Zealand Swimming Championships brought about additional Olympic qualifiers to end the 5-day competition with a bang.

We already reported how 22-year-old Taiko Torepe-Ormsby got it done in the men’s 50m free, firing off a new lifetime best of 21.86. Although that was in the prelims, his time counts towards Paris selection, with the Wisconsin athlete representing the first-ever New Zealand swimmer to crack the barrier in the event.

• Wisconsin’s Torepe-Ormsby Becomes First Kiwi Man Under 22 Seconds in 50 Freestyle

Although both had already qualified for the Olympic Games entering this competition, Erika Fairweather and Eve Thomas put on a show from start to finish in the women’s 800m free.

20-year-old Fairweather led through the 450m mark before Thomas crept up on the Neptune swimmer and overtook the lead by .16 as they turned at the 500m wall.

23-year-old Thomas of Coast Swimming Club then led the world champion until the final 100m where Fairweather gunned down a split of 59.48 (30.72/28.76) to Thomas’ 1:00.74 (31.10/29.64) to ultimately get to the wall first.

Fairweather scored gold in a time of 8:21.67 while Thomas settled for silver in 8:22.27. Caitlin Dean of Neptune earned bronze in 8:36.40.

Both Fairweather and Thomas beat the times they produced at this year’s World Championships. In Doha, Fairweather secured bronze in a time of 8:22.26 and Thomas placed 4th in 8:24.86 so they both improved with tonight’s domestic result.

Post-race, Fairweather said, “I’m a bit tired now, the 800m definitely takes it out of you but I’m happy with that result.

“It’s been a great week and I’ve loved the whole experience here.”

Also making his presence known on the final night was 24-year-old Lewis Clareburt.

The reigning 400m IM world champion took on the 200m IM this evening, firing off a near-lifetime best in the process.

Clareburt touched in a time of 1:57.36, a result just .o9 outside the 1:57.27 national record he put on the books at the 2020 Olympic Games. Splits for his performance this evening included 25.45/30.03/34.08/27.80.

The Club 37 swimmer now adds this race to the 400m IM he already qualified in for Paris, courtesy of the 4:09.72 he logged in Doha for gold.

On his performance, Clareburt commented, “That was a good swim for me, I haven’t come anywhere near that record in three years so I’m definitely heading in the right direction.”

“This has been a great week. We’ve had so many athletes make the Olympic qualification time which has been amazing.”

Quotes courtesy of Swimming New Zealand.

Additional Notes

• We reported how 16-year-old Monique Wieruszowski nailed a new lifetime best and New Zealand national record of 30.38 in the non-Olympic event of teh women’s 50m breast.
• Gina McCarthy of Hamilton Aquatics topped the women’s 200m IM podium in 2:16.58.
• The men’s 1500m free saw Larn Hamblyn-Ough produce a time of 16:12.79 to take the meet title.
• Josh Gilbert topped the men’s 50m breast podium in 28.22.
• The women’s 50m free saw Gabi Fa’amausili log 25.13 to grab the gold. Chelsey Edwards was next to the wall in 25.26 and Laura Quilter rounded out the podium in 25.31.

New Zealand Olympic Qualifiers Through Day Five:

• Lewis Clareburt – men’s 400m IM (4:09.72), 200m IM (1:57.36)
• Erika Fairweather – women’s 200m free (1:55.77), 400m free (3:59.44), 800m free (8:22.26)
• Eve Thomas – women’s 400m free (4:05.87), 800m free (8:24.86), 1500m free (16:07.46)
• Hazel Ouwehand — women’s 100m fly (57.43)
• Cameron Gray — men’s 100 free (48.26)
• Kane Follows — men’s 200 back (1:57.13)
• Taiko Torepe-Ormsby – men’s 50m free (21.86)

Notes:

• Events that were pre-qualified at the 2024 World Championships are italicized. Events qualified at this Olympic Trials meet are in bold.
• Relay qualifiers are not yet included in the above roster, as they are not official.