A three medal haul for Otago has kicked off the World Aquatics Swimming World Cup, with two stops to go it is set to be an exciting couple of weeks ahead. Erika Fairweather, Kane Follows, Zac Reid, and Caitlin Deans took on some of the world's best swimmers in Berlin from 6-8 October, lodging seven top-8 placings, including a three medal haul and a World Cup Record from Fairweather. 

Building from her bronze medal worthy performance at the World Championships in July, Erika Fairweather (Neptune) kicked off the meet by breaking the World Cup Record in the 400m Freestyle in a time of 4:01.09 on her way to claiming the gold medal. Here's what Erika had to say about her swim...

"I am just super stoked to win.  Coming all the way from the other side of the world, I really didn’t know what to expect. Lani Pallister (AUS) was pushing me and it's funny how that happens that we are two swimmers from Oceania swimming close together in the final. You can see by the race that we were pushing each other. Coming off a bronze medal in Fukuoka was such a confidence booster, especially swimming again in this stacked field."

The following two days of racing brought two silver medals for Fairweather, placing second in both the 200m and 800m Freestyle events. Her efforts were rewarded by placing 5th in the individual rankings for women, earning $5,500 USD in prize money.

Kane Follows (Neptune) also had a strong showing in Berlin. Follows had a superb outing in the 200m Backstroke, lodging a new Otago Open Record and placing fourth. It was a tight battle for a spot on the podium, with Kane missing out on a medal by just 8 hundredths of a second. Backing up from this strong performance, Kane went on to place sixth in the 100m Backstroke.

Zac Reid (Neptune) and Caitlin Deans (Neptune) also produced some eye catching performances, with Reid taking sixth place in the 400m Freestyle and Deans taking eighth place in the 800m and ninth place in the 400m Freestyle events. 

It is fantastic to see such positive results across the board from our Otago quartet, and we look forward to seeing how they continue to learn and develop from this international racing experience.

The World Cup moves to Athens, Greece next - where our Otago quartet will look to back up and build on their impressive performances in the birthplace of the Modern Olympics. You can watch all the action live via the World Aquatics YouTube channel from 13-15 October.

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Results from Meet 1 (Berlin) of the World Aquatics Swimming World Cup

Article added: Monday 09 October 2023