The final day of racing at the New Zealand Championships was a blast, with Kale Twist (Kiwi) resetting his Otago Open Record in the 50m Freestyle, Erika Fairweather (Neptune) claiming her third gold medal of the week, and Caitlin Deans (Neptune) finishing off the week with her fourth medal.

A big congratulations to Kale Twist (Kiwi) on lowering his own Otago Open Record in the 50m Freestyle today, with a stunning time of 22.83!

Well done to all our Otago athletes for their efforts this week - each and every one of you have made us in Otago so proud.

The heats session saw plenty of personal best times broken by our Otago athletes.

Liam Rees (Alexandra) and Caleb Ludlow (Alexandra) each reset their long course personal best times in the 200m Individual Medley, with Caleb finishing in 2:14.96 to qualify for the final and Liam stopping the clock in 2:16.30 to place tenth.

The 50m Freestyle heats saw four personal best times recorded. In the men's event, Tom Gold (Neptune) set a lifetime best of 23.77 and Liam McGowan (Oamaru) lowered his personal best with a time of 23.12. On the women's side, Esme Paterson (Neptune) set a new best of 27.19, and Poppy Henderson (Neptune) notched a new best time of 27.75. 

The evening started with the 800m Freestyle, with half of the field from Neptune Swim Club. It was a tight battle for the gold medal, with Erika Fairweather (Neptune) and Coast Swim Club's Eve Thomas battling back and forth throughout the race until Erika pulled away over the final 50m. Erika took the gold in a time of 8:21.67. It was another bronze for Caitlin Deans (Neptune), finishing in 8:36.40 to complete her huge programme for the week. Ruby Heath (Neptune) had another strong outting, taking fourth place with a time of 9:06.77. Emilia Finer (Neptune) finished in 9:26.56, placing sixth.

Caleb Ludlow (Alexandra) had a tough double to take on this evening, with the 200m Individual Medley and 50m Breaststroke back-to-back on the programme of events. Caleb put up a strong effort in the medley event, taking eighth place just outside his personal best time set earlier in the day. Backing up from this swim, Caleb put on a stunning effort in the 50m Breaststroke to set a new personal best time of 31.14.

Kale Twist (Kiwi) finished the night off in style, breaking his own Otago Open Record in the 50m Freestyle on his way to taking sixth place in the event. Kale's time of 22.83 shaved seven hundredths of a second off his previous mark that was set late last year. Liam McGowan (Oamaru) also had a stunner of a swim, setting his second personal best time with a time of 23.03 to take seventh place.

Day Five Medallists

Records Broken on Day Five

Day Five Results

Article added: Saturday 13 April 2024