NZ Swimming Championships: Kane Follows, Cameron Gray Books Paris Tickets with National Records
Kane Follows and Cameron Gray set national records at the NZ Swimming Championships Friday, earning their way to the Paris Olympics with scintillating swims.
Gray set the tone first thing in the morning by blasting a time of 48.26 in the men’s 100 freestyle. That clips .03 off his national record from last April, and it got him under the A standard of 48.34.
“I can’t quite believe it,” Gray told Swimming NZ. “I was feeling pretty good down the first 50m, in the last 50m I knew it was going to be close, knew I was going to be on, so just went for it. I’m looking forward to a bit of a rest after this and then I’ll be back into getting ready for a big few months.”
Gray was slightly slower at night but still won in 49.02.
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Carter Swift nearly got to that standard, too. The 25-year-old was swifter in the morning at 48.73, then 49.39 at night. Zac Dell finished third in 50.07.
The swim of the night sessions at Hawke’s Bay Regional Aquatic Centre came two events later when Follows followed up with a 1:57.13 in the men’s 200 back. That just inches under the national mark set all the way back in 2012 by Gareth Kane at 1:57.15. It also undercuts the Olympic A cut of 1:57.50.
“This has been a grind, I’ve missed a lot of teams but I’ve stuck at it, I’ve given so much to the sport and it feels so good to get this result,” Follows said. “Sport is a lot of ups and downs but it’s all worth it for this feeling, I’ve really enjoyed this week, racing with my mates and this is the most fun I’ve had in a long time.”
Lewis Clareburt was second in 1:58.79, followed by Andrew Jeffcoat in 1:59.37.
Clareburt had a busy night. He dominated the field in the 200 butterfly to win in 1:57.06, a winning margin of exactly eight seconds over the field. It was short of the Olympic A cut of 1:55.78. Clareburt also split 48.59, behind the lead-off leg of 48.66 of Swift, to help Club 37 set a New Zealand Open record in the 400 mixed freestyle relay. Laticia-Leigh Transom and Eva Allen also swam on that relay.
On the women’s side, Transom prevailed in a deep field in the 100 freestyle. She won in 53.94, which is .06 off the Olympic consideration cut. She was also .03 off Hayley Palmer’s national record from 2009. Erika Fairweather showed her sprint chops by finishing second in 54.43.
Helena Gasson won the women’s 200 fly in 2:11.03, edging Hawke’s Bay local Emma Godwin’s fast start. Neve Tassicker captured the 200 fly, one that was without national record holder Gasson, in 2:18.68.
In para events, Cameron Leslie earned a place in Paris by going 1:25.86 to qualify for the men’s S4 100 free. It’s the 34-year-old’s first swim of the meet. Finn Russ won the event, setting an S19 national record.