Clareburt, Thomas and Deans Hit 2024 World Championships Qualification Mark
Olympian Lewis Clareburt showed his pedigree on day one of World Championship Trials in Auckland.
272 swimmers are competing at the trials as they chase a spot in the Aquablacks squad for the 2024 World Aquatics Championships in Doha.
Despite having already qualified for Doha, Clareburt (Club 37) was all class in the 400m individual medley, powering ahead of the pack to finish in 4:15.13s, more than 2-seconds under the 2024 World Championships qualification mark.
“I said to myself coming into this meet that if I go anywhere near under the qualifying time I’d be happy. It’s been a tiring few weeks so I feel like that’s a good time for me right now,” said Clareburt.
Eve Thomas (Coast) and Caitlin Deans (Neptune & Swim Dunedin) were the other standout performers, both swimming under the Doha qualification time in a fast 400m freestyle race.
Thomas and Deans were a cut above from start to finish, clocking 4:07.90s and 4:10.42s respectively.
“I’ve come into this competition off some really intense pieces of work and haven’t been doing anything particularly specific to prepare,” said Thomas.
“That’s the second fastest time I’ve ever done so I’m pretty stoked with that.”
In the Para swimming Asher Smith-Franklin (North Shore) continued to improve, setting a New Zealand S14 record in the 100m butterfly of 1:00.24s.
“I felt really good out there,” said the 17-year-old. “I’m really pleased with the improvements and constantly inching closer to Paralympic qualification which is awesome.”
It was a case of almost but not quite in the rest of the day’s racing.
In the men’s 100m butterfly Cameron Gray (Coast) finished just outside world championships qualification time in 53.02s. It was a similar story in the women’s 100 butterfly where Hazel Ouwehand (Phoenix) led from start to finish, clocking a time of 58.94s, an agonising half a second out from the world championships qualification time.
Kane Follows was then in action in the 200m backstroke, the Neptune and Swim Dunedin swimmer posting a time of 1:58.99s to miss qualification by less than a second.
Olympian Zac Reid (Neptune and Swim Dunedin) then went close in the men’s 400m freestyle, swimming a brilliant second 200m to finish less than a second outside the qualification mark in a time of 3:48.92s.
Day two of competition will see Erika Fairweather’s only event of the weekend as she works to help qualify a Women’s 4 x 200m freestyle team. Eve Thomas, Caitlin Deans and Summer Osborne (North Shore) will be looking to retain their spot on the team, with Laticia-Leigh Transom (Ice Breaker Aquatics) looking to cause an upset.
The Men’s 50m Freestyle will also be a fast one, with Cameron Gray and Carter Swift (Club 37) going head-to-head in a battle of the sprinters.
Gabi Fa’amausili (Club 37) will be hoping to return to the national team in the Women’s 50m Backstroke, heading in as the fastest qualifier. She will also feature in the Women’s 50m Freestyle, with Coast teammates Chelsey Edwards and Zoe Pedersen the fastest seeds.
Five swimmers have already achieved qualification for Doha, following their performances earlier this year at the 2023 World Aquatics Championships in Fukuoka. They are Lewis Clareburt (Club 37), Erika Fairweather (Neptune & Swim Dunedin), Andrew Jeffcoat (Club 37), Caitlin Deans (Neptune & Swim Dunedin) and Cameron Gray (Coast), with all except Andrew Jeffcoat competing this weekend.
Three Kiwis Under 2-Minutes in Blistering Women’s 200m Freestyle
New Zealand swim star Erika Fairweather breezed through 2024 World Championships qualification on day two of Swimming New Zealand’s World Championship Trials.
Swimming at the Sir Owen G Glenn National Aquatic Centre in Auckland, Fairweather (Neptune and Swim Dunedin) didn’t wait for finals to lock in qualification in the 200m freestyle, swimming 1:57.67s in her heat to go a second under the required time.
The 2023 World Championship bronze medallist then picked up the pace in the final, flying home over the last 50m to finish in 1:57.23s.
“That felt tough,” said Fairweather. “It’s been a busy few months but you can’t be unhappy with going under the qualifying time.”
“I’m back home to Dunedin now for a bit of r&r, and then back on the horse and start a big training block going into Doha.”
Three other athletes also went under two-minutes in what was the best race of the night in the 200m freestyle.
Laticia-Leigh Transom (Ice Breaker Aquatics) was second to the wall in 1:59.56s, with South Africa’s Rebecca Meder in third in 1:59.76s. Eve Thomas (Coast) also clocked under 2-minutes in 1:59.87s.
Summer Osborne (North Shore) and Caitlin Deans (Neptune and Swim Dunedin) also had a close battle to be the fourth Kiwi to the wall, with Osborne just pipping Deans.
16-year-old Monique Wieruszowski (North Shore) was the other standout performer on day two of the trials, swimming outside herself to break the New Zealand record in the women’s 100m breaststroke.
Despite choking on a mouthful of water at the end of her first 50m, the young swimmer clocked 1:08.68s to knock .06s off her previous record.
“This just means I’m one step closer to the Paris Olympics so I’m pretty happy about that,” said Wieruszowski.
“I felt pretty good out there today, a few technical things to work on but happy with that swim overall.”
Wieruszowski’s time was just over a second outside the required time for Doha qualification.
In the Para swimming Asher Smith-Franklin (North Shore) broke his S14 NZ record in the 200m freestyle in 2:04.63s.
“I’m really pleased with that, it was even faster than I went this morning in heats which is great,” said Smith-Franklin.
“It felt like everything was really on point out there and so I’m happy with that swim.”
There was also a handful of near misses on qualification, despite some impressive swims.
Gina McCarthy (Hamilton Aquatics) set a PB of more than a second in the women’s 400m individual medley to touch the wall in 4:44.32s.
Gabi Fa’amausili (Club 37) had a busy night, winning both the women’s 50m freestyle and 50m backstroke. The Club 37 swimmer finishing .30 of a second outside of qualification time in the freestyle and half a second outside in the 50m backstroke.
The men’s 200m freestyle was tight at the top, Zac Reid (Neptune and Swim Dunedin) took the honours in 1:49.25s, Edward Sommerville (Brisbane Grammar) was second in 1:49.46s, with Matthew Hutchins third in 1:49.68s, again just outside the time required for Doha.
272 swimmers are competing at the trials as they chase a spot in the Aquablacks squad for the 2024 World Aquatics Championships in Doha.
Sunday November 12th is the final day of the trials with Cameron Gray and Carter Swift in action in the men’s 100m freestyle. Gray has already qualified for Doha in the event and Swift will be hoping to join him.
The Women’s 800m freestyle will be another great contest, with Caitlin Deans and Eve Thomas going head-to-head in a bid to join Erika Fairweather who’s already qualified in the event.
Lewis Clareburt will be back in the pool for the men’s 200m Individual Medley, with Gina McCarthy ready for battle with Rebecca Meder in the women’s event.
The Aquablacks team for the 2024 World Championships will be announced at the end of the final session.
