It was a monumental first day of racing for our Otago athletes at the World Aquatics Championships; with Luan Grobbelaar making his Aquablack debut, Zac Reid returning to the international stage for the first time since the Olympics, and Erika Fairweather earning a bronze medal. 

We would first like to congratulate Luan Grobbelaar on his debut as an Aquablack. Luan raced his sole event of the championships on day one, placing 20th in the 400m Individual Medley with a time of 4:21.54. It is a huge accomplishment to become an Aquablack and represent New Zealand at a major international competition for the first time. We are so proud of Luan, and can't wait to see him learn and grow from this international experience.

Zac is back! In his first swim on the international stage since the Tokyo Olympics, Zac Reid finished the 400m Freestyle recording a time of 3:55.55 to place 32nd. In his first international outing since the Tokyo Olympics, Zac put up a solid performance to get back into the swing of racing at this level. While his time was a bit off the mark he set earlier this year, racing is the best opportunity to grow as an athlete - so we look forward to seeing how Zac continues to learn from this experience. Congratulations to Zac on getting back to competing at this level - it has taken so much commitment and perserverance, and we are very proud of you.

Racing continues at the World Championships until Sunday 30 July, with plenty of more action to come!

Article added: Monday 24 July 2023