New Zealand Readies For World Championships-Qualifier

2019 NEW ZEALAND OPEN CHAMPIONSHIPS

• Monday, June 17th – Friday, June 21st
• Sir Owen G. Glenn National Aquatic Centre, Auckland, NZ
• LCM
• Meet Site
• New Zealand Selection Policy for 2019 World Championships
• Psych Sheets

Psych sheets are now published for the 2019 New Zealand Open Championships slated to begin on June 17th in Auckland. Over 312 athletes will be vying for spots on the Kiwi roster for next month’s World Championships, while visiting athletes from nations such as Australia, China, USA, Fiji, Samoa and more will also be sprinkled in among the events. of note, a maximum of 2 international visitors may progress from heats to finals in any one event.

Per the New Zealand Selection Policy, swimmers must meet or exceed the FINA A cut in individual events in order to gain a spot on the lineup. The only exception will be for relays, where the swimmers must at least achieve the B standard.

Also, the federation has created consideration standards for its younger athletes. Following the selection of swimmers having achieved FINA A cuts, if there are spaces available, consideration for selection of additional swimmers will then be given to swimmers born 1999 or later (males) and 2000 or later (female) if they record a time equal to or better than the the specific table linked above.

Key swimmers entered in the competition include Commonwealth Games medalist Lewis Clareburt, the 19-year-old Capital Club swimmer who raced the 400m IM of his life to take bronze last year on the Gold Coast. He’ll also be looking to qualify for Gwangju in the 200m free. With Japan’s Kosuke Hagino sitting out this year’s World Championships, that’s one less competitor Clareburt will need to fight off on his way to a potential final 8 slot.

Matt Stanley is entered in the men’s 100m and 200m free, while North Shore 23-year-old Bradlee Ashby is ready to take on a big-time schedule of 5 events, including his specialty 200m IM event. The Main brothers of Corey and Bayley are set to compete as well.

For the women, former U.S. swimmer Ali Galyer is hunting the 100m and 200m back, with 18-year-old Gina Galloway in tow. Georgia Bulldog Gabrielle Fa’Amausili is also slated to be in the water for the 50m/100m free and 50m/100m back sprints, with Helena Gasson taking on 5 events of her own.

Of note, Luan Grobbelaar (17) was already named to South Africa’s self-funded World Junior Championships roster, so we’ll have to see how it play out if he were to also qualify for New Zealand.