Aquablacks Round Out Campaign in Singapore

Day Eight Wrap of the 2025 World Aquatics Championships – Swimming

Our New Zealand team have rounded out their campaign at the 2025 World Aquatics Championships in Singapore with Lewis Clareburt (Club 37) competing in the men's 400m individual medley on the final day.

Clareburt was in the last of the seeded heats in lane two, having the advantage of knowing the results from the previous heats. Clareburt was away to a good start and looked comfortable in the butterfly, touching in second at the first wall behind Olympic champion Leon Marchand (France) and third at the end of the opening leg. Clareburt moved smoothly through the backstroke, maintaining his position in third place whilst Tomoyuki Matsushita (Japan) pulled up alongside Marchand at the halfway mark. Clareburt continued to demonstrate his improved breaststroke leg to comfortably maintain third whilst Matsushita surprisingly made his move to take the heat win (4:10.39) ahead of Marchand (4:13.19).

During the freestyle laps, the Hungarian duo of Gabor Zombori (4:13.59) and Balazs Hollo (4:13.88) got motoring from their respective lanes on opposing sides of the pool to draw closer to Clareburt at the final turn, before storming home to take third and fourth respectively in the last stages. Clareburt was fifth on the wall in a time outside his best (4:13.89). When the results were collated across the heats, Clareburt narrowly missed out on progressing through to the final to be tenth overall.

Clareburt concludes his campaign in Singapore having achieved a final and semi-final as well as two personal bests, one of which was a New Zealand record.

That wraps up the action in Singapore for the whole team. In summary, the New Zealand team achieved ten top-16 finishes, including three finals appearances in the pool competition. Four swimmers achieved a total of six personal best times, with one being a New Zealand record. Six of the twelve team members made their Aquablack debut across the open water and pool swimming competition.

Results

Other Results for Coaches from New Zealand

We would also like to acknowledge our coaches based in New Zealand who work with athletes representing different federations.

• Graham Hill coached Rebecca Meder (North Shore representing South Africa) to 9th overall as a member of the South African 4 x 100m medley relay (3:59.47)

Results Summary

Lewis Clareburt

• 200m butterfly (10th overall = 1:55.24 - PB in semi-final, 1:56.35 in heat)

• 200m individual medley (5th overall = 1:57.06 for NZR and PB, 1:57.29 in semi-final, 1:58.19 in heat)

• 400m individual medley (10th overall = 4:13.89)

Louis Clark

• Men's 3km knockout open water (39th overall, 19th in 1500m heat = 17:58.4)

Caitlin Deans

• 800m freestyle (10th overall = 8:28.72 - PB)

• 1500m freestyle (13th overall = 16:13.16)

Erika Fairweather

• 200m freestyle (6th overall = 1:55.61 in final, 1:55.52 in semi-final, 1:56.54 in heat)

• 400m freestyle (disqualified)

• 800m freestyle (7th overall = 8:20.79 in final, 8:22.22 in heat)

Amber George

• 50m backstroke (25th overall = 28.54)

• 100m backstroke (29th overall = 1:02.16)

Finn Harland

• 50m backstroke (16th overall = 25.02 in semi-final, 24.76 in heat - PB)

• 100m backstroke (22nd overall = 54.17 - PB)

Andrew Jeffcoat

• 50m backstroke (27th overall = 25.09)

Savannah-Eve Martin

• 50m backstroke (29th overall = 28.74)

Zoe Pedersen

• 50m butterfly (24th overall = 26.39)

Laura Quilter

• 50m butterfly (29th overall = 26.60)

• 50m freestyle (22nd overall = 25.08 - PB)

Milana Tapper

• 100m freestyle (28th overall = 55.23)

• 200m freestyle (21st overall = 1:58.75)

Eve Thomas

• 400m freestyle (14th overall = 4:10.10)

• 1500m freestyle (16th overall = 16:28.10)

Team Selected

The swimmers selected to represent New Zealand:

Name	Aquablack Number	Club	Coach	Role
Lewis Clareburt	257	Club 37	Mitch Nairn	Pool Swimmer
Louis Clark	Debutant	North Shore	Graham Hill	Open Water Swimmer
Caitlin Deans	276	Neptune & Swim Dunedin	Lars Humer	Pool Swimmer
Erika Fairweather	266	North Shore	Graham Hill	Pool Swimmer
Amber George	Debutant	Coast	Michael Weston	Pool Swimmer
Finn Harland	Debutant	Coast	John Gatfield	Pool Swimmer
Andrew Jeffcoat	279	United	Andy McMillan	Pool Swimmer
Savannah-Eve Martin	Debutant	Coast	Michael Weston	Pool Swimmer
Zoe Pedersen	Debutant	Coast	John Gatfield	Pool Swimmer
Laura Quilter	245	Coast	Self Coached, supported by Michael Weston	Pool Swimmer
Milana Tapper	Debutant	St Peter's & Griffith University	Tom Fraser-Holmes	Pool Swimmer
Eve Thomas	270	Coast	Michael Weston	Pool Swimmer

The coaches and support staff selected to guide our Aquablacks are:

Name	Organisation	Role
Graham Hill	Swimming NZ & North Shore	Head Coach
Mitch Nairn	Club 37	Assistant Coach
Michael Weston	Coast	Assistant Coach
Matthew Ingram	HPSNZ	Manager