There's something about this four year cycle that just makes every dive, stroke, and turn mean that little bit more. When the Olympic dream is on the line it's hard to describe the passion and pressure felt in every moment. For us the 2024 New Zealand Swimming Championships and Olympic Team Trials marks one year of existence for our club. It's hard to believe it's only been 12 months, and while we're only just getting started on our journey it's hard to not be proud of what this team has accomplished so far.
Night one was always going to be a mixed bag of emotions for us... On one hand it was an opportunity for our sprint freestyle boys to put on a show and prove they can mix it with the best in the world. But, on the other hand, we knew that no matter what they managed to produce tonight, they'd already been overlooked in the Olympic selection process. I think we can say without a doubt, these sprint freestyle boys deserve to be in Paris and they sure proved it by winning the Men's 4x100m Freestyle in a National Record breaking time of 3:14.71 which would've been fast enough for 8th at the recent Doha World Championships and qualify for the Paris Olympic Games. There can't be many clubs around the world going sub 3:15.00, and while we desperately wish we had the opportunity to do it again in Paris. We'll take a lot of heart from what this group has already achieved and set our sights on what it's going to take to go even faster next time out.
Day Two was a busier day on the books for the team with the 100m Back, 50 Fly, 200 Free, 100 Breast and Men's 4x100m Medley. Our two backstroke boys Andrew Jeffcoat and Zac Dell were dialled in for their shot at the Olympic qualifying time in the 100m Backstroke and after cruising through the heats in near best times, just couldn't quite find that extra gear in the final to make it happen. Jeffcoat would take the gold medal and Dell the bronze in a race that didn't show the best of what they boys could do. That's the bittersweet part of the sport, sometimes the time reflects what you deserve and unfortunately for us this wasn't one of those days.
In the Women's 100m Backstroke, Gabi Fa'amausili would win a bronze medal with youngster Izzie Gibson earning a Junior Pan Pacific Games qualifying time on her way to finish fourth. With the backstroke done for the night, it was time for the 50m fly where Jack Hendy would just get pipped for a medal and finish fourth in the Men's 50m Fly. We then got to witness something special, with Lewis Clareburt showing his scintillating form in the Men's 200m Freestyle where he claimed the national title in 1:47.18 just 0.09 outside the New Zealand Record. All eyes were on Josh Gilbert in the Men's 100m Breaststroke where he broke clear of the field to win gold by over 2 seconds. Before Laticia-Leigh Transom stole the show in the Women's 200m Freestyle, swimming 1:58.42 to earn her place on the Paris Olympic Team in the Womens 4x200m relay. Capping the night off in style, our Mixed 4x100m Medley Relay teams secured the 1-2 finish.
After a quick reset, Day Three burst into life with Lewis Clareburt proving he's amongst the best pure freestylers in the world, dominating the Men's 400m Freestyle in a New Zealand Record breaking time of 3:46.85. After a quick break, he was back in the water in the 200m Breast going head to head with Josh Gilbert who would pull away to win in 2:13.00 over Lewis who came home for the silver in 2:14.10. The Backstroke boys got another go in the 50m distance with Dell earning a silver medal and Jack Hendy storming home to take the bronze. It's always special to see Gabi Fa'amausili swim the 50m backstroke, winning gold in 28.31 just 0.5 seconds outside her national record.
We'd had Day Four circled on our calendars for a while. There's something about the 100m freestyle that just adds a bit of extra excitement and after going 48.73 through the heats, Carter Swift was starting to prove his consistency under the 49 mark. Unfortunately the final speed wasn't what it needed to be for an Olympic spot, but nevertheless a well earned and stellar swim from Carter to claim the silver medal and Zac Dell the bronze. The 200m backstroke is a tough race to get right and after giving it a hell of a crack, Jeffcoat didn't quite have the legs coming back and fell off to finish third place narrowly being Lewis Clareburt in second. The Women's 100m Freestyle saw a special sub 54.00 performance from Laticia-Leigh Transom who won the gold medal in 53.94! Lewis was back in action in the 200m Fly where we took a commanding gold in a time of 1:57.06, 8 seconds ahead of second place. It was then our 4x100m Mixed Freestyle team's turn to prove they're the best New Zealand has ever seen. Breaking the National Record to win the gold medal in an impressive 3:27.73
The fifth and Final Day would see our sprint specialists gear up for one last push. Lewis Clareburt got the night off to a winning start in the Men's 200m IM. Before the Breastrstroke boys clean swept the podium in the Men's 50m, with Josh Gilbert taking gold ahead of Josh Pickett, and Eli Litten who rounded out the podium respectively. It was then the turn of the freestylers, with Michael Pickett earning a silver in 22.17 ahead of Carter Swift in fourth and Zac Dell in 5th in the Men's 50m Freestyle. Gabi Fa'amausili proved again that she's the undisputed queen of New Zealand sprinting, winning the gold in the Women's 50m Freestyle in 25.13. Finishing the meet on a high, our Men's 4x100m Medley Relay's secured a 1-2 finish to mark the end of one hell of a week.
Our results for the 2024 New Zealand Open Swimming Championships:
- Gold Medals = 16
- Silver Medals = 12
- Bronze Medals = 12
- National Records = 3
We're incredibly proud of the programme we've built over the last 12 months and it's a testament to the dedication of our athletes to see them come away with more total medals, the most gold medals and and break more national records than any other club at this meet. This project has always been, and will always be about supporting our athletes to be the best possible. This meet marks another chapter in that process.
New Zealand Olympic Team Trials
There's something about this four year cycle that just makes every dive, stroke, and turn mean that little bit more. When the Olympic dream is on the line it's hard to describe the passion and pressure felt in every moment. For us the 2024 New Zealand Swimming Championships and Olympic Team Trials marks one year of existence for our club. It's hard to believe it's only been 12 months, and while we're only just getting started on our journey it's hard to not be proud of what this team has accomplished so far.
