Auckland Set to Host Jam-Packed NZ Short Course
- dale493
- Sep 20
- 4 min read
Competition Preview for the 2025 NZ Short Course Swimming Championships
More than 700 swimmers are ready for the last of our national championships of the year. The Sir Owen G Glenn National Aquatic Centre in Auckland will host the NZ Short Course Swimming Championships for the second consecutive year from Sunday 21 to Thursday 25 September.
The championships are continuing to gain popularity with neighbouring countries, with more than 60 swimmers from abroad competing alongside our New Zealand clubs.
As in previous years, the morning sessions will racing from 8.30am each day – with age group medals decided from the results during the morning session swum as timed finals. The five age groups are 13 years, 14 years, 15 years, 16 years and 17 – 18 years.
From the morning session, open finals will be determined. These finals will be raced in the evening session, with Multi-Class, A, B and C finals offered as per the event schedule. Medals will be determined from the A final and Multi-Class final respectively.
Please note that the distance freestyle (800m and 1500m) events will all be swum as timed finals, with the fastest timed final raced in the evening session and results for open and age groups presented at the completion of the evening session.
There is a raft of swimmers that will excite across the five days of competition. Amongst them, thirteen Aquablacks will be amongst the action, including eight who recently competed at the 2025 World Aquatics Championships in Singapore.
Recently crowned World Junior Champion and Aquablack #293, Zoe Pedersen (Coast) will compete for the first time in New Zealand after her stunning gold-medal winning performance in the 50m butterfly last month. She will be looking to carry her excellent form into the short course disciplines across her three events.
2024 World Champion Erika Fairweather (North Shore) will be another swimmer to watch throughout the championships, with the 21-year-old adding the 400m individual medley and 1500m freestyle to her usual programme.
2024 World Champion Lewis Clareburt (Club 37) will be in action each day across his favoured individual medley events as well as freestyle and butterfly.
New Zealand record-holder Hazel Ouwehand (Phoenix Aquatics) will be another to watch after her strong performances at the 2025 Apollo Projects NZ Swimming Championships earlier in the year.
Olympians Caitlin Deans (Neptune & Swim Dunedin), Eve Thomas (Coast) and Cameron Gray (United) will also be in action across the championships. Recent Aquablack debutants Amber George (Coast), Savannah-Eve Martin (Coast) and Louis Clark (North Shore) will also be ones to watch after their eye-catching performances earlier this year to qualify for Singapore, while Aquablack Chelsey Edwards (North Shore) will be looking to continue her hot form after breaking the long course 50m freestyle NZ record over the winter.
Tokyo Paralympic Champion Tupou Neiufi (Mt Eden) will also be in action, as will Paris Paralympian Lili-Fox Mason (Wharenui). Swimmers from the recent World Virtus Swimming Championships will also be competing in the Multi-Class events, including two-time II3 World Champion Ian Chen (St Paul’s) and multiple medallist Chloe Gladwin (Whakatane).
The championships will also be used as a stepping stone for nine swimmers to compete at the World Aquatics Swimming World Cup held next month, with the three weekends of back-to-back racing held in Canada and the United States.
Swimming NZ’s Competitions Manager, Kate Griffiths, is excited for the week ahead.
“It’s great to have 71 clubs from across the country competing at these national championships in Auckland. We also welcome 63 swimmers who have travelled from abroad to compete, including teams from four different Australian states and teams from islands in the Pacific Ocean.”
Griffiths trusts there will be lots of action to follow across the week.
“It’s bound to be jam-packed with fast racing across all the morning and evening sessions, we can’t wait to get started! Good luck to all the swimmers and clubs competing.”
We have provided an overview of the key details and the daily schedule below.
You can stay up-to-date with the action by following our social media channels for live updates and our website for wraps of the action taking place each day.
Key Details
The racing in the morning session will start from 8.30am each day, with the competition in the evening session commencing from 5pm. Whilst there is no better place to watch the racing than live in the grandstands, all sessions of the championships are available live and free on the Swimming NZ YouTube channel.
Dates: 21 - 25 September
Location: Sir Owen G Glenn National Aquatic Centre, Auckland
Heats Start: 8.25am (livestream), 8.30am (racing)
Finals Start: 4.50pm (livestream), 5pm (racing)
Day Schedules
Review the schedule for each day of competition below with male and female events occurring on the same day unless stated otherwise:
Day One – Sunday 21 September
100m backstroke
100m backstroke multi-class
200m breaststroke
100m individual medley
100m individual medley multi-class
Women’s 800m freestyle
Men’s 1500m freestyle
Mixed 4 x 100m freestyle relay multi-class
4 x 100m freestyle relays
Day Two – Monday 22 September
100m freestyle
400m freestyle multi-class
400m individual medley
50m butterfly
50m butterfly multi-class
4 x 100m medley relays
Day Three – Tuesday 23 September
200m backstroke
100m butterfly
100m butterfly multi-class
50m breaststroke
50m breaststroke multi-class
400m freestyle
200m freestyle multi-class
4 x 50m freestyle relays
Day Four – Wednesday 24 September
200m butterfly
50m backstroke
50m backstroke multi-class
100m breaststroke
100m breaststroke multi-class
200m freestyle
100m freestyle multi-class
4 x 50m medley relays
Day Five – Thursday 25 September
50m freestyle
50m freestyle multi-class
200m individual medley
200m individual medley multi-class
Women’s 1500m freestyle
Men’s 800m freestyle
Mixed 4 x 100m freestyle relays
Mixed 4 x 100m medley relay multi-class
Mixed 4 x 100m medley relays
