Bronze for Fairweather on Opening Night of Pan Pacs

Day One Wrap – 2026 Pan Pacific Swimming Championships

New Zealand made a strong start to the Pan Pacific Swimming Championships in Irvine, with Erika Fairweather putting the team on the medal table with bronze in the 200m freestyle and lowering her own New Zealand record.

New Zealand swimmers produced a number of encouraging performances throughout the day, with eight swimmers competing in A or B finals and a ninth lining up in the fastest timed final of the 1500m freestyle.

Erika Fairweather (North Shore – coached by Graham Hill) produced a career-best performance in the women’s 200m freestyle, touching the wall in 1:55.05 to earn bronze and break her own New Zealand record.

Fairweather built her race well to sit comfortably in third behind Australia’s Lani Pallister and Canada’s Summer McIntosh for much of the race.

Pallister and McIntosh were neck and neck across the final 50m, with Pallister pulling ahead to take first in 1:53.67, just ahead of McIntosh in 1:53.86. Fairweather finished third to pick up New Zealand’s first medal of the meet.

Caitlin Deans (Neptune & Swim Dunedin – coached by Lars Humer) also produced a strong performance in the women’s 1500m freestyle, clocking a new personal best of 16:07.44 in the fastest timed final to place fifth on night one in Irvine. Her performance marked a one second improvement from the lifetime best she set at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.

Zoe Pedersen (Coast – coached by Michael Weston) was the second Kiwi to contest a championship final on the first night of racing in Irvine, lining up against some of the fastest women in the world in the 50m butterfly.

Pedersen placed seventh in 26.45, with world record holder Gretchen Walsh (USA) taking first in a new championship record.

Hazel Ouwehand (Phoenix – coached by David Lyles) made a significant improvement from her heats performance to win the B final in 26.13.

On the men’s side, Cameron Gray (United – coached by Andy McMillan) placed seventh in the B final, finishing in 24.10.

Lewis Clareburt (United / Nunawading – coached by Jol Finck) was up against a strong field in the men’s 200m freestyle, finishing third in the B final in 1:46.47.

In the 100m backstroke, Milan Glintmeyer (Coast – coached by Michael Weston) produced one of the standout swims of the morning, stopping the clock in 1:00.34 to break the 18 years New Zealand age record.

She went on to place third in the B final in 1:00.74, while teammate Amber George (Coast – coached by Michael Weston) finished seventh in the B final in 1:01.32.

On the men’s side, Zac Dell (United / Brisbane Grammar – coached by Bobby Jovanovich) finished eighth in the B final in 56.65, after posting 54.47 in the heats.

In the heats, Savannah-Eve Martin (1:02.41 – Coast – coached by Michael Weston) placed 23rd in a strong women's 100m backstroke field. Eve Thomas (1:59.78 – Coast – coached by Michael Weston) and Alyssa Tapper (2:02.34 – St Peter's / Griffith University – coached by Tommy Fraser-Holmes) placed 27th and 37th, respectively in the women's 200m freestyle, while James Leigh (1:49.95 – Coast / Marist – coached by James Boyce) finished in 33rd place in the men's event.

With Fairweather’s bronze medal and national record, Glintmeyer’s age record, and nine New Zealand swimmers returning to the pool for the finals session, the opening day provided plenty of positives for the team.

Racing continues tomorrow, with day two set to feature Lewis Clareburt in the 400m individual medley alongside a further seven New Zealand swimmers lining up in the heats session.

Follow the action live

Follow Swimming NZ on Instagram (@swimming_nz) and Facebook, and keep an eye on our website, to stay up to date with all the swimming action from Irvine.

You can find the schedule and results via the link below. This competition will be streamed live on the USA Swimming YouTube channel.

Schedule & Results

Livestream

Results by Swimmer

Lewis Clareburt

• Men's 200m freestyle – 3rd place in B final (B final: 1:46.47; heat: 1:47.41)

Caitlin Deans

• Women's 1500m freestyle – 5th place (timed final: 16:07.44 – PB)

Zac Dell

• Men's 100m backstroke – 8th place in B final (B final: 56.65; heat: 54.78)

Erika Fairweather

• Women's 200m freestyle – bronze medal (A final: 1:55.05 – NZ record; heat: 1:55.53)

Amber George

• Women's 100m backstroke – 7th place in B final (B final: 1:01.32; heat: 1:01.42)

Milan Glintmeyer

• Women's 100m backstroke – 3rd place in B final (B final: 1:00.74; heat: 1:00.34 – 18 years NZR)

Cameron Gray

• Men's 50m butterfly – 7th place in B final (B final: 24.10; heat: 24.04)

James Leigh

• Men's 200m freestyle – 33rd place (heat: 1:49.95)

Savannah-Eve Martin

• Women's 100m backstroke – 23rd place (heat: 1:02.41)

Hazel Ouwehand

• Women's 50m butterfly – 1st place in B final (B final: 26.13; heat: 26.72)

Zoe Pedersen

• Women's 50m butterfly – 7th place in A final (A final: 26.45; heat: 26.62)

Alyssa Tapper

• Women's 200m freestyle – 37th place (heat: 2:02.34)

Eve Thomas

• Women's 200m freestyle – 27th place (heat: 1:59.78)

Daily schedule

*Asterisk denotes potential finalist, subject to qualification or confirmation of the distance-event start list. Relay line-ups are still to be confirmed.

Day Two

Heats – from 5am NZST, Friday 14 August

• Men’s 400m individual medley (Clareburt)

• Women’s 100m freestyle (Edwards & Pedersen)

• Men’s 100m freestyle (Gray & Dell)

• Women’s 50m backstroke (George, Martin & Glintmeyer)

Finals (*subject to qualification) – from 2pm NZST

• Men’s 400m individual medley (Clareburt*)

• Women’s 100m freestyle (Edwards* & Pedersen*)

• Men’s 100m freestyle (Gray* & Dell*)

• Women’s 50m backstroke (George*, Martin* & Glintmeyer*)

• Men’s 4x200m freestyle relay

Day Three

Heats – from 5am NZST, Saturday 15 August

• Women’s 400m freestyle (Fairweather, Thomas, & Tapper)

• Men’s 400m freestyle (Clareburt & Leigh)

• Women’s 100m butterfly (Ouwehand)

• Women’s 200m backstroke (Glintmeyer)

Finals (*subject to qualification) – from 2pm NZST

• Women’s 400m freestyle (Fairweather*, Thomas*, & Tapper*)

• Men’s 400m freestyle (Clareburt* & Leigh*)

• Women’s 100m butterfly (Ouwehand*)

• Women’s 200m backstroke (Glintmeyer*)

• Women’s 4x100m freestyle relay

• Men’s 4x100m freestyle relay

Day Four

Heats – from 5am NZST, Sunday 16 August

• Men’s 200m individual medley (Clareburt)

• Women’s 50m freestyle (Edwards & Pedersen)

• Men’s 50m freestyle (Klouwens, Gray & Dell)

• Women’s 800m freestyle (Fairweather, Thomas, Deans & Tapper)

Finals (*subject to qualification) – from 2pm NZST

• Men’s 200m individual medley (Clareburt*)

• Women’s 50m freestyle (Edwards* & Pedersen*)

• Men’s 50m freestyle (Klouwens*, Gray* & Dell*)

• Women’s 800m freestyle (Fairweather*, Thomas*, Deans* & Tapper*)

New Zealand Team

Name	Organisation	Role
Graham Hill	Swimming NZ & North Shore	Head Coach
Andy McMillan	United	Assistant Coach
Michael Weston	Coast	Assistant Coach
Monique Williams	North Shore	Team Manager

Name	Club	Coach
Lewis Clareburt	United	Jol Finck (Nunawading)
Caitlin Deans	Neptune & Swim Dunedin	Lars Humer
Zac Dell	United	Bobby Jovanovich (Brisbane Grammar)
Chelsey Edwards	North Shore	Graham Hill
Erika Fairweather	North Shore	Graham Hill
Amber George	Coast	Michael Weston
Milan Glintmeyer	Coast	Michael Weston
Cameron Gray	United	Andy McMillan
Harrison Klouwens	United	Mitch Nairn
James Leigh	Coast	James Boyce (Marist)
Savannah-Eve Martin	Coast	Michael Weston
Hazel Ouwehand	Phoenix Aquatics	David Lyles
Zoe Pedersen	Coast	Michael Weston
Alyssa Tapper	St Peter's	Tommy Fraser-Holmes (Griffith University)
Eve Thomas	Coast	Michael Weston