2024 NEW ZEALAND SC CHAMPIONSHIPS
- Tuesday, August 20th – Saturday, August 24th
- Sir Owen G. Glenn Aquatic Centre, Auckland, New Zealand
- SCM (25m)
- Meet Central
- Live Results
The 2024 New Zealand Short Course Championships kicked off this week from Auckland with action taking place at the Sir Owen G. Glenn Aquatic Centre. Veterans and age groupers alike are vying for meet titles, with domestic Kiwi swimmers facing off against a visiting Australian contingent.
Right off the bat, 14-year-old Lincoln Wearing of Australia made some noise as he raced the men’s open 800m freestyle event.
Wearing of Chandler Swim Club clocked a blistering time of 8:04.72 in the event to snag silver behind winner Larn Hamblyn-Ough of the host nation who got to the wall first.
18-year-old Hamblyn-Ough registered a time of 7:57.76 as the winner while Joel Verran bagged the bronze in 8:12.97.
For youngster Wearing, it appears the 14-year-old’s effort established a new Australian National Age Record. His outing beat the previous best-ever for an Aussie at that age, a time of 8:07.43 Olympic finalist Sam Short put on the books in 2018.
Helena Gasson dove in for multiple events on day 2, coming up with gold in 2 events.
The 29-year-old Coast swimmer first won the women’s 100m back, clocking a time of 57.89. Splitting 11.88/13.03/13.36/13.43, Gasson’s effort fell just .20 shy of the 57.68 national record she put on the books last year.
She then got the wall first in the women’s 100m IM, turning in a time of 59.79 as the sole swimmer of the field to get under the minute barrier. Gasson owns the Kiwi standard with the 58.40 logged 2 years ago.
Additional Notes
- We reported how 23-year-old Joshua Gilbert produced a new national record in the men’s 200m breaststroke, hitting 2:04.57.
- The women’s 200m breast saw 20-year-old Zyleika Pratt-Smith get it done for gold in 2:23.81.
- Zach Dell was too quick to catch in the men’s 100m IM, topping the podium in 53.90. He also won the men’s 100m back, hitting 51.70 for gold.
- Leading off Club 37 A’s men’s 4x100m free relay, Carter Swift put up a stellar opener of 47.36. Swift negatively split 24.37/22.99 to come within striking distance of his own New Zealand national record of 47.17 established in 2022.
- 15-year-old Maya Bearman of Australia earned gold in the women’s 1500m free, posting 16:38.10.