It was a fantastic third day of racing at the New Zealand Short Course Championships for Otago, with our athletes taking home a heap of personal best times and eight medals, while Neo Salomonsson (Kiwi) lowered his own Otago Age Record in the 100m Butterfly.

While we can't write about all the results, we have highlighted light on some notable performances from each session below.

Morning Age Group Timed Finals & Open Heats

The 200m Backstroke kicked off the morning’s racing, where we saw Alfie Weatherston Harvey (Kiwi) better his personal best time by over a second in the 16 years age group to secure silver by one-hundredth of a second amongst a very competitive field. Luisa Palmer (Wanaka) continued her fantastic form by picking up another silver medal in the 14 years age group, notching a new personal best time along the way. 

Neo Salomonsson (Kiwi) continued to show his butterfly prowess in the 100m Butterfly, timing his finish to perfection to take the gold medal in a time of 56.14 to obliterate his own Otago Record in the 15 years age group, touching just a few tenths of a second outside of the New Zealand Age Record. Congratulations Neo!

Hugo Beeby (Neptune) shaved over a second off his best time to continue a successful first national championships for the youngster. Esme Paterson (Neptune) put in a solid heat swim to secure a lane in the evening A final, while both Ana Tarapi (Neptune) and Sophie Winter (Alexandra) gave it their all to touch the wall in new personal best times.

The 50m Breaststroke was up next, with lots of exciting results from our Otago athletes. Lily McGrath (Neptune) had a strong swim in the 14 years age group to claim the bronze medal. You could have thrown a blanket over the field in the 17-18 age group that saw Caleb Ludlow (Alexandra) break the 30-second barrier to take sixth and secure a lane in the open finals.

Meg McLaughan (Kiwi) swam another personal best time to secure a spot in the open finals alongside Lucy McKinnon (Neptune).

The 400m Freestyle was the final event of the morning session. It was a silver medal for Alfie Weatherston Harvey (Kiwi) in the 16 years age group, finishing in a stellar new personal best time to take his second medal in the session. Kiwi teammates Taka Sugiyama and William McFarlane placed seventh and ninth, respectively, in the same age group.

Emilia Finer (Neptune) secured a berth in the A Final with another personal best time, with team mates Ruby Heath and Charlotte Aburn each securing a spot in the open finals.

Evening Open Finals

The evening got underway with the 200m Backstroke that featured two Otago athletes. Luisa Palmer (Wanaka) continued her fantastic form, slashing her personal best time by over two seconds across the day. Meanwhile, Alfie Weatherston Harvey (Kiwi), conserving his energy for a later event in the session, stopped the clock at 2:13.56.

With several scratchings in the 100m Butterfly, it left Esme Paterson (Neptune) to fly the Otago flag, and didn’t she impress. As the first New Zealander to the wall, Paterson claimed the open national title, taking gold in a time of 1:00.24 and improving on her morning swim by about half a second.

Next up was the 50m Breaststroke. Caleb Ludlow (Alexandra) continued his form from the morning session to lower his best time again, placing second in the C Final. In a class field, Kale Twist (Kiwi) touched the wall outside of his heat swim.

A dominant performance by Meg McLaughlan (Kiwi) in the B Final saw her touch the wall first in a new personal best time of 32.95, meanwhile Neptune teammates Lily McGrath and Lucy McKinnon both swam faster than their morning times in the C Final.

In the 400m Freestyle, Taka Sugiyama (Kiwi) made the most of his finals berth with a new personal best time and a sixth-place finish in the C Final. Alfie Weatherston Harvey (Kiwi) put in a solid performance to place seventh overall in a time of 4:01.35.  

Four Otago women were competing across the A, B, and C Finals of the same event. Heidi Winter (Alexandra) made the most of the opportunity for a second, finishing fifth in the C Final and slashing her personal best time by over four seconds. Charlotte Aburn (Neptune) improved on her morning time to stop the clock at 4:32.49.

The A Final was a talent-laden field, which made for an exciting race. Ruby Heath (Neptune), in a tight tussle, took silver in a time of 4:13.38 to improve on her heat swim by almost six seconds. Storming home was teammate Emilia Finer (Neptune) to secure the bronze medal in 4:14.47, dropping her personal best time by just over a whopping four seconds.  

The night ended with some relay action, this time the 4x50m Freestyle. The Kiwi Swim Club team of Noah Brummitt, Taka Sugiyama, William McFarlane and Alfie Weatherston Harvey put up a great effort to place 18th overall on the men's side, assisted by front and back-end splits in the low 24 seconds. The Neptune Swim Club team of Ruby Heath, Lucy McKinnon, Emilia Finer and Charlotte Aburn opened their relay account with a strong anchor leg from Aburn, splitting in the low 27s to take 11th place overall.

Age Group Medallists

Neo Salomonsson (Kiwi)
🥇 Men's 15 years 100m Butterfly

Alfie Weatherston Harvey (Kiwi)
🥈 Men’s 16 years 200m Backstroke 

🥈 Men’s 16 years 400m Freestyle 

Luisa Palmer (Wanaka)
🥈 Women's 14 years 200m Backstroke 

Lily McGrath (Neptune)
🥉 Women's 14 years 50m Breaststroke

Open Medallists

Esme Paterson (Neptune)

🥇 Women’s 100m Butterfly

Ruby Heath (Neptune)
🥈 Women's 400m Freestyle 

Emilia Finer (Neptune)
🥉 Women's 400m Freestyle
 

Records Broken

Neo Salomonsson (Kiwi)
Men's 15 years 100m Butterfly – 56.14

Day Three Results

Article added: Thursday 22 August 2024