Competition Wrap - 2024 World Aquatics Swimming World Cup - Stop 1
Six Kiwi swimmers competed at the first leg of the 2024 World Aquatics Swimming World Cup in Shanghai over the weekend.
This year's World Cup consists of three legs held on consecutive weekends in October in different cities, with each leg featuring three days of racing. With the upcoming 2024 World Aquatics Swimming Championships (25m) being held in Budapest this December fast approaching, the World Cups are held in the short course format. The opportunity to race against quality athletes from across the globe is seen as an important part of an athlete's preparation and development.
Lewis Clareburt (Club 37) was New Zealand's standout performer in Shanghai, bringing home a bronze medal and two New Zealand Records on the final night of competition.
Clareburt produced the fastest men's 400m individual medley of his career to claim the bronze medal (4:05.03), shaving 1.63 seconds off Dean Kent's NZ Record from 2003. Clareburt shared the podium with Olympic Champion Leon Marchand (France - 4:00.03) and Alberto Razzetti (Italy - 4:01.51).
Later in the same session, Clareburt swam in the men's 200m freestyle final. In a strong field, Duncan Scott (Great Britain - 1:40.92) took the gold medal ahead of teenager Edward Sommerville (Australia - 1:42.14) and Danas Rapsys (Lithuania - 1:42.35). Clareburt wasn't far off the podium, finishing sixth in a time that broke Matthew Stanley's NZ Record by 0.47 seconds, a mark that had been set in 2017.
Clareburt felt he built into his campaign in Shanghai.
"I really enjoyed my time here in Shanghai, it was a really cool place to visit and there was some really fast racing. I started the week off with a disappointing start in the 200m individual medley and had to raise my level to be able to compete with some of the guys here. I felt like I was able to do that at the end of the week."
Clareburt is looking forward to the upcoming stopovers in Incheon and Singapore in the coming weekends.
"Hopefully I'll be able to improve and feel more confident at each stop."
In total, our New Zealand swimmers brought home one medal, two New Zealand Records and made six finals across the first stopover in Shanghai.
We have provided an overview by day of the results from our Kiwis below.
Day One - Friday 18 October
Josh Gilbert (Club 37) continued his form from the 2024 Apollo Projects NZ Short Course Swimming Championships in August to qualify for the men's 100m breaststroke final. Swimming from lane eight, he lowered his time from heats to final to touch eighth (57.88).
Isabelle Gibson (Club 37) made her first appearance at a senior international competition in the women's 50m backstroke, producing a personal best to finish tenth (27.92) to narrowly miss out on making the final.
Teammates Ollie Lutton (Jasi) and Hugo Wrathall (Jasi) also made their senior international racing debut, both racing in two events on the opening day. Lutton was just outside making a final in the men's 200m backstroke, placing tenth (2:00.65), with Vincent Downs-Honey (Club 37 - 2:08.71) placing 13th in the same event. Lutton also took on the men's 50m freestyle, touching 25th (23.15) to be one place behind Wrathall (24th - 22.99). Wrathall also raced the men's 100m butterfly to finish 15th overall (54.11).
Athlete | Event | Result | Ranking |
Josh Gilbert | 100m Breaststroke | 58.28 (Heat) & 57.88 (Final) | 8th |
Isabelle Gibson | 50m Backstroke | 27.92 | 10th |
Ollie Lutton | 200m Backstroke | 2:00.65 | 10th |
Vincent Downs-Honey | 200m Backstroke | 2:08.71 | 13th |
Hugo Wrathall | 100m Butterfly | 54.11 | 15th |
Hugo Wrathall | 50m Freestyle | 22.99 | 24th |
Ollie Lutton | 50m Freestyle | 23.15 | 25th |
Day Two - Saturday 19 October
Lewis Clareburt opened his World Cup campaign with two events on the second day. Clareburt made the final in the men's 200m butterfly, improving upon his heat time by more than a second in the final to finish fifth (1:53.98). On the podium was Trenton Julian (USA - 1:51.24), Chad Le Clos (South Africa - 1:51.46) and Alberto Razzetti (Italy - 1:51.88).
Clareburt also swam in the men's 200m individual medley, finishing 10th overall to be just outside the final (1:55.31).
Isabelle Gibson was back in action in the women's 100m backstroke, once again placing 10th to be just outside the final, notching her second personal best in as many races (59.71).
Josh Gilbert raced in men's 50m breaststroke where lots of heats were held, finishing 12th from the heats (26.98).
Ollie Lutton had two events again, taking on the men's 50m backstroke where he placed 15th (25.62) ahead of Vincent Downs-Honey (21st - 26.99). Hugo Wrathall took home the bragging rights between the Jasi teammates in the 100m freestyle, placing 22nd (49.45) ahead of Lutton (28th - 50.34).
Athlete | Event | Result | Ranking |
Lewis Clareburt | 200m Butterfly | 1:55.06 (Heat) & 1:53.98 (Final) | 5th |
Lewis Clareburt | 200m Individual Medley | 1:55.31 | 10th |
Isabelle Gibson | 100m Backstroke | 59.71 | 10th |
Josh Gilbert | 50m Breaststroke | 26.98 | 12th |
Ollie Lutton | 50m Backstroke | 25.62 | 19th |
Vincent Downs-Honey | 50m Backstroke | 26.99 | 21st |
Hugo Wrathall | 100m Freestyle | 49.45 | 22nd |
Ollie Lutton | 100m Freestyle | 50.34 | 28th |
Day Three - Sunday 20 October
As mentioned above, Clareburt produced the fastest 400m individual medley of his career to claim the bronze medal (4:05.03), shaving 1.63 seconds off Dean Kent's NZ Record from 2003. Clareburt shared the podium with Olympic Champion Leon Marchand (France - 4:00.03) and Alberto Razzetti (Italy - 4:01.51).
Clareburt returned for the men's 200m freestyle final. In a strong field, Duncan Scott (Great Britain - 1:40.92) took the gold medal ahead of teenager Edward Sommerville (Australia - 1:42.14) and Danas Rapsys (Lithuania - 1:42.35). Clareburt wasn't far off the podium to finish sixth in a time that broke Matthew Stanley's NZ Record by 0.47 seconds, a mark that had been set in 2017.
Isabelle Gibson made her first international senior final in the women's 200m backstroke. Swimming from lane one, the teenager went faster in the final to finish seventh (2:11.41).
Josh Gilbert made his second final of the competition, this time in the men's 200m breaststroke. The NZ Record holder qualified eighth fastest for the final, and swam slightly faster in the evening to finish eighth (2:06.43).
Vincent Downs-Honey completed all the backstroke events by racing the men's 100m backstroke, finishing 17th (58.41).
Hugo Wrathall and Ollie Lutton both raced in the men's 200m freestyle and men's 50m butterfly heats. Wrathall took the honours in both, placing 22nd (1:51.01) in the freestyle ahead of Lutton's 25th (1:51.28). Wrathall also placed 24th in the butterfly (24.59) ahead of Lutton's 28th (25.22). During the heats of the men's 50m butterfly, Noe Ponti (Switzerland - 21.67) broke the World Record before nearly going the same time in the final.
Athlete | Event | Result | Ranking |
Lewis Clareburt | 400m Individual Medley | 4:05.03 (NZR) | Bronze |
Lewis Clareburt | 200m Freestyle | 1:44.01 (Heat) & 1:43.21 (Final - NZR) | 6th |
Isabelle Gibson | 200m Backstroke | 2:12.03 (Heat) & 2:11.41 (Final) | 7th |
Josh Gilbert | 200m Breaststroke | 2:07.02 (Heat) & 2:06.43 (Final) | 8th |
Vincent Downs-Honey | 100m Backstroke | 58.41 | 17th |
Hugo Wrathall | 200m Freestyle | 1:51.01 | 22nd |
Ollie Lutton | 200m Freestyle | 1:51.28 | 25th |
Hugo Wrathall | 50m Butterfly | 24.59 | 24th |
Ollie Lutton | 50m Butterfly | 25.22 | 28th |
Other Members
We also wanted to congratulate South Africa's Rebecca Meder (North Shore) on a strong weekend of racing.
Meder brought home three medals with strong performances in the women's 200m breaststroke (bronze - 2:20.35) and women's 100m individual medley (sixth - 59.19) on the first day, bronze in the women's 100m breaststroke final (1:05.25) on day two and another bronze in her favoured women's 200m individual medley final (2:07.42) on the last day. Across all four events, Meder improved her time from heat to final.
Athlete | Event | Result | Ranking |
Rebecca Meder | 200m Breaststroke | 2:21.63 (Heat) & 2:20.35 (Final) | Bronze |
Rebecca Meder | 100m Individual Medley | 59.22 (Heat) & 59.19 (Final) | 6th |
Rebecca Meder | 100m Breaststroke | 1:05.43 (Heat) & 1:05.25 (Final) | Bronze |
Rebecca Meder | 200m Individual Medley | 2:08.93 (Heat) & 2:07.42 (Final) | Bronze |
Congratulations to all of our swimmers, their coaches and support teams. We look forward to watching those racing at the next stopover this coming weekend, in Incheon (South Korea) from 24 - 26 October.
You can find the full results from the World Cup via the link below.
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