Day 4 Wrap of the 2024 Apollo Projects New Zealand Age Group Swimming Championships
The penultimate night of the 2024 Apollo Projects New Zealand Age Group Swimming Championships kicked off with the Men's 15 & Under and 16 & Over 4 x 50m Freestyle Relays. Coast demonstrated their strength in relays by being the first Kiwi teams in both age groups. Our visitors from Dumbea New Caledonia (1:40.82) took the gold in the 15 & Under, with Coast claiming the Kiwi gold (1:41.60) ahead of Phoenix Aquatics (1:42.11) and North Shore (1:42.26) in a tight tussle for the medals. In the older age group, Coast (1:34.70) led from the start to have a comprehensive win over United (1:36.50) and Coast B (1:38.76).
Coast Coach John Gatfield was proud of his team.
"The results we've had as a team so far have been fantastic, and to see all the hard work they've done pay off together makes me extremely proud."
Monique Wieruszowski (North Shore - 1:08.05) continued her impressive form in Hawke's Bay as she swam well clear of the field from the outset to win the Women's 100m Breaststroke 16 years final in a dominant performance, just shy of her NZ Record of 1:07.67 and well under the Junior Pan Pacs qualifying time.
Kevin Zhang (Roskill - 2:06.42) signalled his intent as he led from start to finish in the Men's 200m Individual Medley 17-18 years final in an inspired performance, ahead of Coast teammates Blake Faleafa (2:08.55) and Brendon Visser (2:11.85) who took silver and bronze respectively. Ariel Muchirahondo (Swim Rotorua - 2:09.14) also showed his class across the strokes with a performance just outside the NZ Age Record.
The Women's 200m Freestyle 17-18 years final was a battle in two from the outset, with Milana Tapper (St Peters - 2:01.47) swimming over Aquablack Summer Osborne (North Shore - 2:02.60) on the final lap to take the win in a Junior Pan Pacs qualifying time by half a second.
"I'm really happy with the time. It was really great having Summer there to push me in the first 100m. Coming second last night by so little made me want it tonight."
The Men's 50m Freestyle offered a lot of entertainment with every final coming down to the who got the better touch on the wall. Harrison Klouwens (North Shore - 23.16) took out the 17-18 years final slightly slower then his sub 23 second Junior Pan Pacs qualifying swim from the heats.
Tandia Fisher (Wharenui) and Alanna Rawson (St Peters) have had one of the bigger rivalries across the championships so far. Fisher took out both the Women's 200m Freestyle (2:11.95) and 50m Butterfly (29.49) in the 13 years age group by less than 0.1 seconds over Rawson in grandstand finishes.
Brendan Visser (Coast) and Larn Hamblyn-Ough (Coast) swam together in the Men's 1500m Freestyle fastest timed final before Visser pulled away at the 800m to put his stamp on the final with an impressive 16:02.61, while Hamblyn-Ough took silver in 16:20.78. Alfie Weatherston Harvey (Kiwi - 16:38.19) won the 16 years title while finishing third in the final.
The finals session was concluded with the Men's & Women's 15 & Under and 16 & Over Medley Relays. United (4:29.07) dominated the Women's 15 & Under final, ahead of Wharenui (4:37.47) and North Canterbury (4:41.00). The North Shore ladies continued to stand out in the 16 & Over final to win their fourth relay of the week in 4:12.29 ahead of Coast (4:18.17) and United (4:24.95).
North Shore (4:08.78) continued with the momentum and took out the Men's 15 & Under final just .01 in front of visitors Dumbea New Caledonia (4:08.79). United (4:09.65) and Phoenix Aquatics (4:14.29) took second and third respectively.
The 16 & Over final turned into a race between Coast A and United A. Touching 0.1 seconds apart at the halfway point, United's Mason Wang pulled away in the butterfly leg and the team held on to win the final in 3:53.18, Coast in second (3:54.24), and United B third (4:00.17).
"We've talked about this relay since camp at the start of the year, it's awesome to see the boys succeed and to succeed as team with the B team coming third."
Congratulations to all swimmers who competed today! Whilst there are too many results across all age groups, we have tried to highlight some of the close races and results from the day.
Don't miss any of the action with opportunities to watch from the grandstand pool side or on the Whakaata Maori YouTube channel.
