Day 2 Wrap – Paris 2024 Olympic Games
Lewis Clareburt (Club 37) has produced his best result in an Olympic final, finishing sixth in the Men's 400m Individual Medley and improving on his seventh place finish from Tokyo three years ago.
The event had the crowd at a fever-pitch before the athletes were even introduced to the pool deck, with local supporters anticipating the arrival of Frenchman Leon Marchand. Much of the coverage in the lead-up to the Games had been focused on Marchand after he broke Michael Phelps' last remaining individual World Record in Fukuoka last year, with a sold out crowd eager to cheer on the local hero in Paris.
The heats took place on Sunday night (NZST) and saw Clareburt progress to the final in a three-way tie for sixth place overall. Clareburt touched the wall equal fourth in his heat (4:11.52), with the Marchand, Max Litchfield (Great Britain) and Daiya Seto (Japan) securing the top three spots.
In the final, Marchand and Seto took it out fast in the butterfly and backstroke. Marchand had established a healthy lead over the rest of the field by the halfway mark, before entering his trademark breaststroke leg. By this point, the race had two focus areas: Marchand versus his World Record line, and the battle for silver and bronze medals behind.
Clareburt was with the mid-pack early, touching fifth at the halfway mark. It was during the breaststroke leg that much of the field made their move, with swimmers queuing up across the pool to set themselves up for a strong finish in the freestyle leg. Meanwhile, Marchand nudged his World Record the whole way to win gold in an Olympic Record and post the second fastest swim of all time (4:02.95). Tomoyuki Matsushita (Japan - 4:08.62) had a blistering final 50m to snare the silver on the touch ahead of Carson Foster (USA - 4:08.66).
Clareburt (4:10.44) turned seventh at the final turn, before surging home to sixth place, improving his time from the heats. The performance marks Clareburt's best finish at an Olympic Games.
Clareburt spoke well after the race expressing disappointment in his overall result.
"I know that I'm a better swimmer than that today, but I guess that's the fact that it's the Olympics and there are no second chances. And, unfortunately I couldn't execute the race I wanted to."
Clareburt reflected upon how the race panned out.
"I thought I swam the first 200m just about perfect. I thought I was going to have more to give in the breaststroke, but it fell apart a little bit there as I couldn't get the rhythm that I like. And then the freestyle, I was hoping I would have a lot left in the tank, but unfortunately I was too far behind."
Clareburt felt it was special getting to swim in front of the loud French crowd.
"We don't normally get that in swimming, so it was exciting to have that crowd and hear them every single stroke. It was a pretty surreal experience and I was happy to be a part of it."
Clareburt may be a bit disappointed in the result, however New Zealand is extremely proud of his performance. Congratulations to Lewis Clareburt, coach Mitch Nairn and his support team on placing sixth at the Olympics.
Erika Fairweather (Neptune & Swim Dunedin) was back in the pool again on day two, taking on the Women's 200m Freestyle. Fairweather (1:56.54) looked comfortable during the heat swim to place second in the heat behind Australian Mollie O'Callaghan, qualifying through to the semi-final seventh fastest.
With the way the heats results played out, Fairweather found herself in a stacked second semi-final next to the two fastest swimmers in history over the distance. The Australian pair of Ariarne Titmus (1:54.64) and O'Callaghan (1:54.70) took out the semi-final comfortably in what's becoming incredibly close battles between the teammates. Olympic medallist Siobhan Haughey (Hong Kong - 1:55.51) took third place. Fairweather (1:56.31) touched fifth in her heat to progress through to her second final in as many days, qualifying seventh fastest. Her final takes place at 7.41am NZST tomorrow morning (Tuesday 30 July).
Kane Follows (Neptune & Swim Dunedin) made his Olympic debut in the Men's 100m Backstroke. It was a strong showing from Follows, coming second in his heat and ranking 33rd overall (55.03). He will return to the pool for his favoured Men's 200m Backstroke on day five (Wednesday evening NZST).
We don't have any Kiwis in action during the heats on day three tonight, however Erika Fairweather will be in action in the Women's 200m Freestyle during the finals session at 7.40am on Tuesday 30 July NZST.
Day Three
Finals Swim (from 6.30am NZST – Tuesday 30 July)
Women’s 200m Freestyle Final (Fairweather - 7.41am)
Day Four
Heats (from 9pm NZST – Tuesday 30 July)
Men’s 200m Butterfly (Clareburt)
Men’s 100m Freestyle (Gray)
Women’s 1500m Freestyle (Thomas)
Potential Finals Swims (from 6.30pm NZST – Wednesday 31 July)
Men’s 100m Freestyle Semi-Final (Gray - 6.30am)
Men’s 200m Butterfly Semi-Final (Clareburt - 6.42am)
Cameron Gray opens his Olympic campaign with the men’s 100m freestyle on day four. The New Zealand record holder is in great form, after placing 14th in the event at the recent World Championships in Doha and breaking the national record earlier this year. All eyes will be on the 100m freestyle, as the blue-ribbon event shapes up to be another competitive one. David Popovici and Pan Zhanle have been break out stars since the previous Games, having each broken the world record in recent years, however Rio Olympic champion Kyle Chalmers will be looking to play spoiler.
Lewis Clareburt will be back in the pool for the men’s 200m butterfly, where the Commonwealth Games champion will be up against France’s Leon Marchand and reigning Olympic champion and world record holder Kristof Milak.
Eve Thomas returns to the pool for the longest event on the programme, the women’s 1500m freestyle. Thomas will once again be up against the mighty Katie Ledecky, who has never been beaten over the distance at the senior international level.
Day Five
Heats (from 9pm NZST – Wednesday 31 July)
Men’s 200m Backstroke (Follows)
Potential Finals Swims (from 6.30am NZST – Thursday 1 August)
Men’s 200m Butterfly Final (Clareburt – 6.36am)
Women’s 1500m Freestyle Final (Thomas – 7.07am)
Men’s 200m Backstroke Semi-Final (Follows – 7.37am)
Men’s 100m Freestyle Final (Gray – 8.22am)
Kane Follows returns for his favoured event on day five – the men’s 200m backstroke. The New Zealand record holder is the only one of our swimmers racing in the heats of day five, however there is potential for a number of Kiwis to be amongst the action during the finals session.
Day Six
Heats (from 9pm NZST – Thursday 1 August)
Men’s 50m Freestyle (Torepe-Ormsby)
Men’s 200m Individual Medley (Clareburt)
Women’s 4 x 200m Freestyle Relay (Fairweather, Transom, Thomas, Deans)
Potential Finals Swims (from 6.30am NZST – Friday 2 August)
Men’s 200m Backstroke Final (Follows – 6.37am)
Men’s 50m Freestyle Semi-Final (Torepe-Ormsby – 6.44am)
Men’s 200m Individual Medley Semi-Final (Clareburt – 7.35am)
Women’s 4 x 200m Freestyle Relay Final (Fairweather, Transom, Thomas, Deans – 7.49am)
Day six gets off to a fast start, with Taiko Torepe-Ormsby debuting in the men’s 50m freestyle. The fastest Kiwi of all time arrives in Paris in excellent form, breaking the New Zealand record in April to qualify for the team. Always a popular event at the Games, this event could see the world record under pressure, as Australia’s Cameron McEvoy closes in on dipping under 21 seconds. With the barest of margins separating the field, it will be another one to watch.
Our women’s 4x200m freestyle relay team will also take to the pool on day six, where Caitlin Deans and Laticia Transom will make their Olympic debut alongside Erika Fairweather and Eve Thomas. Fresh off their fifth-place finish in Doha, the team will be full of confidence having broken the New Zealand record earlier this year. With all four swimmers in good form, the team looks like they are shaping up to go faster again.
Lewis Clareburt returns to pool for the heats of his final event of the Games – the men’s 200m individual medley. Clareburt arrives in Paris as the 13th fastest seed in the event, having been a finalist in Tokyo.
Day Seven
Heats (from 9pm NZST – Friday 2 August)
Men’s 100m Butterfly (Gray)
Women’s 800m Freestyle (Fairweather & Thomas)
Potential Finals Swims (from 6.30am NZST – Saturday 3 August)
Men’s 50m Freestyle Final (Torepe-Ormsby – 6.30am)
Men’s 200m Individual Medley Final (Clareburt – 6.43am)
Men’s 100m Butterfly Semi-Final (Gray – 7am)
Erika Fairweather and Eve Thomas head into the women’s 800m freestyle as the eighth and ninth fastest seeds, respectively. This will be another competitive event to watch, with the battle in the heats bound to be close as they vie for a spot in the final.
Cameron Gray takes on another stacked field in the men’s 100m butterfly, featuring reigning Olympic champion and world record holder, Caeleb Dressel, who continues his return to competitive swimming after some time off.
Day Eight
Potential Finals Swims (from 6.30am NZST - Sunday 4 August)
Men’s 100m Butterfly Final (Gray – 6.30am)
Women’s 800m Freestyle Final (Fairweather & Thomas – 7.08am)
The penultimate day of the swimming in Paris is the final day we could see our Kiwis in action, with potential finals spots available for Fairweather and Thomas in the women’s 800m freestyle and Gray in the men’s 100m butterfly.
Don’t miss any of the action on Sky Sport during these Games. For those who don’t have Sky Sport on a regular basis, you can stream all 12 channels and more via their Olympics Pass for a special rate (available for purchase from Thursday 25 July), or you can watch free coverage of selected live content and highlights free-to-air on Sky Open (freeview channel 15).
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 Paris.
You can also download the NZ Team app to track your favourite sports and Kiwi athletes as they strive for gold in Paris.
Swimmer Entries
Kane Follows
100m Back (Entry time: 54.46)
200m Back (Entry time: 1:57.13 – NZ Record)
Lewis Clareburt
200m Butterfly (Entry time: 1:55.82)
200m IM (Entry time: 1:57.36)
400m IM (Entry time: 4:09.72 – 7th fastest seed)
Cameron Gray
100m Butterfly (Entry time: 52.53)
100m Freestyle (Entry time: 48.26 – NZ Record)
Taiko Torepe-Ormsby
50m Freestyle (Entry time: 22.86 – NZ Record)
Hazel Ouwehand
100m Butterfly (Entry time: 57.43 – NZ Record)
Eve Thomas
1500m Freestyle (Entry time: 16:07.46)
400m Freestyle (Entry time: 4:05.87 - 13th fastest seed)
800m Freestyle (Entry time: 8:22.27 – 9th fastest seed)
4 x 200m Freestyle Relay (Entry time: 7:53.02 – NZ Record)
Erika Fairweather
200m Freestyle (Entry time: 1:55.45 – 8th fastest seed)
400m Freestyle (Entry time: 3:59.44 – NZ Record – 4th fastest seed)
800m Freestyle (Entry time: 8:21.06 – 8th fastest seed)
4 x 200m Freestyle Relay (Entry time: 7:53.02 – NZ Record)
Caitlin Deans & Laticia Transom
4 x 200m Freestyle Relay (Entry time: 7:53.02 – NZ Record)
Daily Schedule
*start times are subject to change, while semi-finals and finals are subject to athlete progression.
Tuesday 30 July
Day Three Finals – from 6.30am NZST
Men’s 100m Backstroke Final (Follows*) – 7.19am
Women’s 200m Freestyle Final (Fairweather*) – 7.41am
Day Four Heats – from 9pm NZST
Men’s 200m Butterfly (Clareburt)
Men’s 100m Freestyle (Gray)
Women’s 1500m Freestyle (Thomas)
Wednesday 31 July
Day Four Finals – from 6.30pm NZST
Men’s 100m Freestyle Semi-Final (Gray*) – 6.30am
Men’s 200m Butterfly Semi-Final (Clareburt*) – 6.42am
Day Five Heats – from 9pm NZST
Men’s 200m Backstroke (Follows)
Thursday 1 August
Day Five Finals – from 6.30am NZST
Men’s 200m Butterfly Final (Clareburt*) – 6.36am
Women’s 1500m Freestyle Final (Thomas*) – 7.07am
Men’s 200m Backstroke Semi-Final (Follows*) – 7.37am
Men’s 100m Freestyle Final (Gray*) – 8.22am
Day Six Heats – from 9pm NZST
Men’s 50m Freestyle (Torepe-Ormsby)
Men’s 200m Individual Medley (Clareburt)
Women’s 4x200m Freestyle Relay (Fairweather, Transom, Thomas, Deans)
Friday 2 August
Day Six Finals – from 6.30am NZST
Men’s 200m Backstroke Final (Follows*) – 6.37am
Men’s 50m Freestyle Semi-Final (Torepe-Ormsby*) – 6.44am
Men’s 200m Individual Medley Semi-Final (Clareburt*) – 7.35am
Women’s 4x200m Freestyle Relay Final (Fairweather, Transom, Thomas, Deans*) – 7.49am
Day Seven Heats – from 9pm NZST
Men’s 100m Butterfly (Gray)
Women’s 800m Freestyle (Fairweather & Thomas)
Sunday 3 August
Day Seven Finals – from 6.30am NZST
Men’s 50m Freestyle Final (Torepe-Ormsby*) – 6.30am
Men’s 200m Individual Medley Final (Clareburt*) – 6.43am
Men’s 100m Butterfly Semi-Final (Gray*) – 7am
Monday 4 August
Day Eight Finals – from 6.30am NZST
Men’s 100m Butterfly Final (Gray*) – 6.30am
Women’s 800m Freestyle Final (Fairweather* & Thomas*) – 7.08am
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