George, Martin & Muchirahondo Lead the Way on Penultimate Day
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Day Four Wrap - 2026 NZ Swimming Championships
The fourth day of racing at the 2026 New Zealand Swimming Championships delivered more fast performances, with qualifying times achieved and records broken.
Exciting Rotorua teenager Ariel Muchirahondo grabbed his second open title of the championships, claiming the men’s 200m butterfly honours on the penultimate night of competition at the Sir Owen G Glenn National Aquatic Centre.
Leading throughout, the 17-year-old won in 1:59.33, the only swimmer under the two-minute mark in the final. The time was under the qualifying time for the upcoming Junior Pan Pacific Swimming Championships.
The Swim Rotorua winner finished ahead of Daniel Kregting (Roskill), Australian visitor Harvey Larke, and Neo Salomonsson (Kiwi & Swim Dunedin).
“Under the two-minute barrier again – which I think shows that something big is coming if I can do that consistently,” said the 17-year-old Muchirahondo.
Muchirahondo, Kregting, and Salomonsson were also the medal winners in the 17-18 years age group.
Waikato swimmers were to the fore in the women’s 400m individual medley, with fastest qualifier, Georgina McCarthy, winning ahead of North Shore’s Olivia Bates and Hamilton Aquatics clubmate Ariella Riley.
Riley led after the butterfly, with McCarthy taking over at the end of the backstroke leg and clearing out to win in 4:52.85.
“I am pretty happy with that. I’ve done practically no individual medley lately, so I am pleased with that time,” said McCarthy who has recently returned from overseas altitude training.
Earlier in the heats, Chloe Gladwin (Whakatane) lowered her own national record in the SM19 400m individual medley, clocking 5:39.96.
17-year-old Daniel Smith from Pukekohe took gold in the men’s multi-class 50m breaststroke after resetting the SB19 New Zealand record earlier in the day with a time of 31.06. Paralympian Joshua Willmer (Coast), whom set the SB8 national record in the heats with his time of 32.73, took silver. Asher Smith-Franklin (SB14 - Coast) took bronze for the Kiwis. Visitor bronze went to Australian Riley Moore.
Cambridge swimmer Jessica Johnstone, 16, took a second off her heat time to win the 50m breaststroke multi-class title.
The St Peter’s swimmer was measured about her win, in 37.06.
“It was solid but I think I can get a bit faster. I am not really a 50 swimmer but I am really excited for the Para Pan Pacs coming up in California,” said Johnstone.
She finished ahead of Australian Alyssa Gillespie and Wharenui’s Charlotte Rozen who set a new national record in the SB18 class. Third place for the Kiwis went to Greer Holland (Zenith).
Coast Swim Club dominated the women’s 50m backstroke, won by Amber George in 27.94, pipping clubmates Savannah-Eve Martin and Milan Glintmeyer for the podium, with less than half a second separating the trio.
George and Martin both went under the qualifying time for the Pan Pacific Championships, while Glintmeyer went under the standard for the Junior Pan Pacific Championships.
Glintmeyer topped the podium in the 17-18 years age group, with Pippa Mihaka (Hamilton Aquatics) taking silver and Bridie Quayle (Wharenui) bronze.
United Swimming Club competitors dominated the men’s 100m freestyle final, claiming the top five placings in the final won by Olympian Cameron Gray in 48.66. He pipped Lewis Clareburt, who took nearly a second off his heat time, storming home to finish just 0.17s back in second with clubmate Carter Swift taking bronze.
“It was a really good race. I could feel Lewis sniffing my toes, then sniffing my legs but I managed to hold him off. Seven of the eight swimmers were from United so we have a good scene of old-ish men in the club,” said Gray.
Igor Russanov (Coast) took gold in the 17-18 years division, with Orlando Hardie (Hamilton Aquatics) and Fraser Walker (United) joining him on the podium. Roskill's Rui Hou sneaked under the Junior Pan Pacific Championships qualifying mark in the heats with his performance of 50.75.
Top qualifier Madeleine McTernan from Australia took out the honours in the women’s multi-class 100m freestyle with the S14 swimmer clocking 1.00.19 for a new Australian record.
Hamilton Aquatics’ Quinn Pike claimed the New Zealand gold in 1:04.35, with Gabriella Smith (Wharenui) and Chloe Gladwin (Whakatane) rounding out the podium. 17-year-old Rylee Sayer (Hamilton Aquatics) clocked 1:17.33 to go under the Pan Pacific Para Swimming Championships qualifying mark.
Japan’s Para swimming superstar Takayuki Suzuki put on a clinical display in the men’s multi-class 100m freestyle to claim visitor gold. Pukekohe’s Daniel Smith set a new S19 national record of 55.30 to take gold for the Kiwis, while Paralympian Cameron Leslie took silver in a Para Pan Pacs qualifying mark and James Haydon (United) took bronze.
Jack McMillan (Greendale) earned his second national record of the week, lowering the S18 100m freestyle mark in the heats with his time of 1:23.12.
Waitakere’s Brearna Crawford clocked 32.11 to edge out Zyleika Pratt-Smith from Coast (32.20) and Australian visitor Maya Zunker (32.30) in a closely fought final in the 50m breaststroke. Pukekohe’s Jessica Cochran took bronze for the Kiwis.
“I really trust my stroke, put my head down and went for it. I had a bit of a wonky start but I got the job done,” said Crawford.
Zunker also took visitor gold in the 17-18 years age group, with Cochran earning the title for the Kiwis. Alex McIntosh (United) and Grace Jeromson (North Shore) took silver and bronze, respectively, with Australia's Sasha Henrison joining them on the podium with visitor bronze.
The 400m freestyle champion, James Leigh from Coast Swim Club, made it the double to claim victory in the 800m freestyle. The 19-year-old won in 8:06.66 to be well clear of Alfie Weatherston Harvey (Kiwi & Swim Dunedin) and Larn Hamblyn-Ough (Coast).
“I struggled mentally to get going after every 200m and swim faster. I am still learning how to swim the 800 so I am super-happy to get under 8:08. My favourite to race is probably the 200 which is probably where I have the most potential, and the 400 is not far behind and I am getting better at that each time I swim it.”
Weatherston Harvey won the 17-18 year title in 8:16.70, more than twenty seconds clear of Ethan Stocks (Roskill) in second and Jack Barton (North Shore) in third.
The evening wrapped up with the North Shore A quartet of Erika Fairweather, Chelsey Edwards, Summer Osborne and Kezia Buissinne winning the women's 4x200m freestyle relay in 8:10.47. The team were led off by a fast first 200m by Olympian Erika Fairweather where she touched the wall in 1:55.79 – less than a second outside of her national record set just days ago.
Competition Details
Heats will be held from 9am each morning, with finals held in the evening from 6pm. Whilst there is no better place to watch the racing than live from in the grandstands, all sessions of the championships will be available live and free on the Swimming NZ YouTube channel.
Dates: 13 - 17 May
Location: Sir Owen G Glenn National Aquatic Centre, Auckland
Heats Start: 8.55am (livestream), 9am (racing)
Finals Start: 5.50pm (livestream), 6pm (racing)
We also welcome back the Legends Relay on Saturday night, where our Kiwi favourites return to the pool and raise money for the NZ Swimming Trust who help support of next wave of swimmers.
Day Previews
Each day of competition has must watch races. An overview of each day has been provided below.
Day Five - Sunday 17 May
Events:
Men's 400m individual medley
Women's 200m individual medley
Men's & women's 200m individual medley – multi-class
Men's 50m butterfly
Women's 50m freestyle
Men's & women's 50m freestyle – multi-class
Men's 200m breaststroke
Women's 800m freestyle
Women's 200m breaststroke
Men's 100m backstroke
Mixed 4x100m medley relay – multi-class
Women's 4x100m medley relay
Men's 4x100m medley relay
Some of the key races to watch include:
Lewis Clareburt (United) and Ariel Muchirahondo (Swim Rotorua) meet for the second time during the week in the men's 400m individual medley.
Cameron Leslie (Whangarei) lines up against 14-time Paralympic medallist Takayuki Suzuki of Japan in the men's 50m freestyle — one of the week's most anticipated match-ups. The pair are separated by less than half a second on entry times and stood on the podium together in Singapore last year.
Aquablack Rylee Sayer (Hamilton Aquatics) rounds out her week with the multi-class 50m freestyle after breaking the S7 New Zealand record twice in the sprint event at the recent Australian Open.
Commonwealth Games medallist Cameron Gray (United) will be looking for a strong performance in the men's 50m butterfly, while Chelsey Edwards (North Shore) will be the one to watch in the women's 50m freestyle.
The women's 800m freestyle sees Olympians Erika Fairweather (North Shore), Caitlin Deans (Neptune & Swim Dunedin), and Eve Thomas (Coast) battle it out one final time across the week's distance programme.
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