Ouwehand’s 100 FL National Record & Fairweather’s 4:02.35 400 FR Highlight Day 3 of NZL Trials

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 1 Recap
• Day 2 Recap

Day three of the 2024 New Zealand Olympic Trials was a fast one, with two national records going down at the Hawke’s Bay Regional Aquatic Centre.

The night started with the men’s 400 freestyle, where Lewis Clareburt (3:46.85) broke a 12-year-old national record en route to gold. Although Clareburt did score a New Zealand record, he just missed the Olympic qualifying time of 3:46.78 in the process. He is already pre-qualified for the Paris Games in the 400 IM.

Zac Reid gave Clareburt a great push through the first 250 meters before finishing with a time of 3:48.61. 24-year-old Reid owns a career best time of 3:47.74, a time he threw down at the 2021 National Championships.

Clareburt’s Record-Setting Splits:

In the women’s 400 free, 2024 World Champion Erika Fairweather was simply dominant. She opened her swim in 1:59.98 through the first 200 before finishing the race in 4:02.35. Her final time equals her 7th fastest time ever, which builds upon her 2nd and 3rd fastest 200 freestyle performances from Wednesday night.

Fairweather’s Fastest 400 Freestyle Times:

1. 3:59.44 (2024 World Championships)
2. 3:59.59 (2023 World Championships)
3. 4:00.62 (2023 NZL Nationals)
4. 4:01.09 (2023 Berlin World Cup)
5. 4:01.90 (2023 Athens World Cup)
6. 4:02.28 (2021 Olympic Games)
7. 4:02.35 (2023 Budapest World Cup & 2024 NZL Olympic Trials)

Behind Fairweather was 23-year-old Eve Thomas, who notched an effort of 4:06.41 for silver. Thomas’ time undercuts the Olympic qualifying standard of 4:07.90, but she was already pre-qualified with her 4:05.87 clocking from February’s World Championship competition. Thomas trains under coach Dean Boxall at St. Peters Western in Australia, where world record holder Ariarne Titmus also trains.

20-year-old Cameron Gray was the fastest 100 butterfly swimmer in the water. He touched the wall in a winning time of 52.53, which was about a second outside of the Olympic mandated time (51.67). In the women’s race, Hazel Ouwehand snagged gold in 58.27, which was outside of the 57.92 qualifying time. However, Ouwehand threw down a new national record of 57.43 in the heats, which does count toward Paris qualification.

Ouwehand’s national record marks her 2nd in this event in just the past month, as she ripped a time of 57.76 at last month’s Auckland Championships.

Splits Comparison:

After her national record performance in prelims, Ouwehand stated the following to Swimming New Zealand: “I really wanted to do the time this morning and get that weight off my shoulders, I’d swum it last month so I knew I had it in me. I felt like jelly right before getting on the block, the last 15-20m hurt like hell and I’m so tired now but I’m so, so happy with that.”

After clocking a slightly slower time of 58.27 in the final, Ouwehand said the following: “I’m so tired, I put everything out there this morning and I’m buggered but it’s done for now. I’ve had so many messages and congratulations and stuff, it’s been a really happy day, I would’ve liked to have gone even better tonight but just couldn’t quite get there.”

In the 200 breaststroke, no swimmer was able to dip under the time needed to qualify for Paris. Josh Gilbert won the men’s race in 2:13.00 by about a second over Clareburt (2:14.10). In the women’s field, Brearna Crawford upgraded from silver in Tuesday’s 100 breast to gold (2:29.87). Crawford was less than a second shy of her national record (2:29.09) from last year.

18-year-old Finn Hartland bagged gold in the non-Olympic 50 backstroke distance, breaking his own 18-year-old age record in 24.97. His previous benchmark stood at the 25.11 that he put on the books last month. Former Georgia Bulldog Gabi Fa’amausili touched in 28.31 to win the women’s discipline. She owns the national record with her best time of 27.81.

4×200 freestyle relay action ended the night, where Coast Swimming Club (7:48.50) won the men’s race and North Shore won the women’s (8:43.35). Coast’s squad was comprised of Brendan Visser (1:54.53), Larn Hamblyn-Ough (1:55.18), Jack Potier (1:55.88), and Oscar Greenwood (2:02.91). North Shore’s quartet was represented by Summer Osborne (2:03.68), Liv Peebles (2:12.28), Caitlin O’Reilly (2:17.80), and Melissa Cowen (2:09.59).

New Zealand Olympic Qualifiers Through Day Three:

• Lewis Clareburt – men’s 400m IM (4:09.72)
• 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)

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.