Day 3 Wrap – Paris 2024 Olympic Games
Erika Fairweather (Neptune & Swim Dunedin) has produced another outstanding performance in Paris, finishing seventh in the Women's 200m Freestyle.
The final was the last event on the night three programme in Paris, rounding out a session filled with high quality racing and close finishes. The Women's 200m Freestyle had been designed to cap off the evening, and the star-studded final line up certainly lived up to the billing.
The field was pretty close over the first lap of the race, with Fairweather getting away well in lane one. Hong Kong's Siobhan Haughey pushed the pace early, with the World Record holder Ariarne Titmus (Australia) moving up alongside her during the second lap and teammate Mollie O'Callaghan (Australia) sticking with Titmus through the early stages. Fairweather sat on the hip of Junxuan Yang (China) alongside her in lane two, who was pushing hard during the first three laps of the race, before trying to move alongside the Chinese swimmer over the final 50m.
The battle for the medals was heating up at the final turn, with O'Callaghan producing her trademark underwater skills to surface ahead after being third at the 150m mark. From that point on, there was no catching O'Callaghan, who powered home to win the gold medal and break the Olympic Record (1:53.27). Titmus (1:53.81), the defending champion, added a silver medal to her collection, as Australia claimed their first one-two finish in 20 years. Haughey (1:54.55) held on from her fast start to win the bronze medal.
Fairweather (1:55.59) produced a strong finish to achieve her best time on the international stage in the event, touching in seventh place and landing just outside of her New Zealand record. It was another outstanding result for Fairweather, in what was her second Olympic final of Paris 2024, with the 20-year-old improving from her 16th place in the event three years ago in Tokyo.
Speaking with Sky Sport immediately after the race, Fairweather was proud of her performance in the final.
"I'm super happy with that. It's been a hard couple of days so to back it up with that performance I'm happy."
Fairweather also shared her preparations for the final and her positive approach.
"I just love having fun racing and I think that's what I tried to focus on tonight, not the time or the outcome just how I was swimming in the water."
Once again, New Zealand is extremely proud of Fairweather's performance on the Olympic stage. Congratulations again to Erika Fairweather, coach Lars Humer and her support team on placing seventh in her second final at these Games.
Action from day four in Paris gets underway tonight, with Lewis Clareburt (Club 37) returning for the Men's 200m Butterfly, Cameron Gray (Coast) making his Olympic debut in the Men's 100m Freestyle and Eve Thomas (Coast) back in action in the Women's 1500m Freestyle heats.
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 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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