Five Para Swimmers Selected For Singapore

Team Announcement for 2025 World Para Swimming Championships

We are thrilled to announce the New Zealand swimming team for the 2025 World Para Swimming Championships. A team of five swimmers has been selected to represent us at the pinnacle international competition for 2025, with two athletes set to make their Aquablack debut when racing gets underway in Singapore from 21 – 27 September.

Rylee Sayer (Matamata – coached by Graeme Laing) will make her first appearance on an Aquablack team following her impressive start to 2025, where she has achieved the minimum qualifying standard in five events after strong performances throughout the qualification window, most notably the national championships in Hawke’s Bay and Auckland. Sayer has asserted herself as one to watch in Singapore and beyond, with the S7 swimmer highly ranked ahead of her first World Championships.

Asher Smith-Franklin (North Shore – coached by Graham Hill) will also debut at his first World Para Swimming Championships thanks to achieving his first minimum qualifying standard for the SM14 200m individual medley at the recent 2025 Apollo Projects NZ Swimming Championships in May. Smith-Franklin erupted at the finish after seeing his time on the scoreboard, slapping the water in delight to showcase how much it meant to him to qualify for the team.

Three Paralympians will bring international experience to the team, none more so than 14-time medallist at the World Para Swimming Championships, Cameron Leslie (Whangarei – coached by Tom Onley), who will represent New Zealand at these championships for the eighth time of his career. He will be joined by Paris teammates Gaby Smith (Vikings/Uni Queensland – coached by David Heyden) and Josh Willmer (Coast – coached by Michael Weston) who will both appear at the third World Championships of their respective careers.

The team will be led by Swimming NZ’s Paralympic Head Coach, Simon Mayne, and supported by Tom Onley (Whangarei) as assistant coach, Amanda White as team manager and Elliot Snedden as performance analyst.

Mayne is looking forward to the World Championships.

“We are committed to getting on the podium in Los Angeles in 2028, and these World Championships are one of the key steps on that journey. We have swimmers ranked in the top three in the world this year, and our team are preparing to perform in Singapore. We can’t wait to take on the world in September.”

Mayne also congratulated the two debutants.

“It’s exciting to see Rylee and Asher take the step and be selected for their first Aquablack team. The work they have done with their coaches to progress through the pathway in recent years has reaped the rewards and they will arrive in Singapore ready to make their mark on the international stage. It’s the start of an exciting cycle for them both.”

The team will continue their preparations over the next couple of months with their coaches and home programmes, before travelling to Singapore in mid-September ahead of the Championships.

We would like to recognise and congratulate each of the swimmers and their coaches, as well as the support team selected for Singapore.

Selected Team

Congratulations to the team listed below who are selected to compete in Singapore:

Name	Aquablack Number	Club	Coach
Cameron Leslie	272	Whangarei	Tom Onley
Rylee Sayer	Debutant	Matamata	Graeme Laing
Gaby Smith	274	Vikings & University of Queensland	David Heyden
Asher Smith-Franklin	Debutant	North Shore	Graham Hill
Josh Willmer	275	Coast	Michael Weston

The coaches and support staff selected to guide our Aquablacks are:

Name	Organisation	Role
Simon Mayne	Swimming NZ	Head Coach
Tom Onley	Whangarei	Assistant Coach
Elliot Snedden	HPSNZ	Performance Analyst
Amanda White	Swimming NZ	Team Manager