2020 NEW ZEALAND SC CHAMPIONSHIPS
- Tuesday, October 6th – Saturday, October 10th
- Waterworld Te Rapa, New Zealand
- SCM (25m)
- Psych Sheets
- SwimSwam Preview
- Day 1 Recap
- Results
World Championships bronze medalist Lewis Clareburt put on a show here in Hamilton, New Zealand by logging the 2nd fastest 400m IM time ever by a New Zealander.
Entering this meet Clareburt’s lifetime best in the SCM version of the 400 IM rested at the 4:09.96 he posted last September. However, the 21-year-old Captial Swim Club athlete found another gear to slice .49 off of that outing and check-in with a time of 4:07.47 for gold.
His time tonight sits just less than a second off of Dean Kent’s legendary 400m IM national record of 4:06.66 that’s been on the books since 2003.
Splits for Clareburt’s swim are below. The Kiwi took bronze in Gwangju in the long course edition fo this event, hitting a time of 4:12.07 at the 2019 FINA World Aquatic Championships.
Yesterday’s newly-minted 800m free national record holder Zac Reid was back at it again today, hitting a time of 49.18 to win the 100m freestyle final.
The women’s race went to Erika Fairweather, with the 16-year-old Neptune swimmer logging a time of 54.28 for a new lifetime best. Her mark here overtakes the 54.92 produced just this past August and checks-in as a new national age record for 16-year-olds.
The age record was actually set in the morning here in Hamilton, as Laura Littlejohn of St. Paul’s produced a stellar 54.29 to take the top seed. She slowed down slightly to 54.54 in the final, which opened the door for Fairweather to take the gold.
With Fairweather’s performance tonight and Littlejohn’s prelims time, the pair settle in as the #2 and #3 performers, respectively, among New Zealand’s best all-time.