New Zealand Team Ready to Make Their Mark at Junior Pan Pacs

Competition Preview – 2026 Junior Pan Pacific Swimming Championships

An 18-strong New Zealand swim team are ready to take on some of the world's best young swimmers at the 2026 Junior Pan Pacific Swimming Championships being held in Vancouver, Canada, between 17 - 20 August.

Racing kicks off at 4:00am NZST on Tuesday 18 August.

It is a young New Zealand team heading to Vancouver, with team captains Ariel Muchirahondo (Swim Rotorua) and Alyssa Lawson (Hamilton Aquatics / St Andrew’s) the only two swimmers in the squad with previous major international competition experience.

The pair represented New Zealand at the 2025 World Aquatics Junior Swimming Championships in Romania last year, giving them valuable experience of competing on the international stage.

Both Muchirahondo and Lawson have also been selected to represent New Zealand at the Youth Olympic Games later this year, making the Junior Pan Pacific Championships another important opportunity to test themselves against strong international competition ahead of that event.

For the rest of the team, Vancouver will provide a first taste of major international racing and an opportunity to gain experience competing against swimmers from across the Pacific region. Several members of the team are heading into the championships with plenty of confidence after strong performances at the recent New Zealand Secondary School Swimming Championships.

Charlie Dickison (Nga Tai Tuatea a Taraika), Rui Hou (Roskill) and Grayson Coulter (North Shore) each broke national age group records at the championships, highlighting the form of the young swimmers heading into Vancouver.

The team also features a number of swimmers who represented New Zealand at the recent Tri Series in Western Australia, where New Zealand Team Black claimed the overall honours.

With a mixture of international experience, record-breaking performances and recent representative success, the team will be looking to carry that momentum into the Junior Pan Pacific Championships.

The championships will give the young New Zealand team the chance to race against swimmers from some of the strongest swimming nations in the region, while gaining valuable experience of competing on the international stage.

The team is led by head coach Mat Woofe, with assistant coaches Aidan Withington, Michelle Gillies and Carl Gordon supporting the swimmers throughout the campaign.

Rylind Wheeler and Bridie Quayle (both of Wharenui) have also been named New Zealand’s flag bearers for the championships and will carry the New Zealand flag at the opening ceremony in Vancouver.

The championships will feature heats and finals, with a limit of two athletes per nation in each final. Consolation finals, or B finals, will also be offered. Distance events will consist of only timed finals, with the fastest timed final swum in the evening, while relay events will be swum in the finals session.

Follow the action live

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 Vancouver.

You can find the schedule and results on Meet Mobile or via the link below. This competition will be streamed live on the CBC Sports YouTube channel.

Entries & Results

Watch Here - CBC Sports YouTube

Competition Webpage - Swimming Canada

Daily schedule

*Asterisk denotes potential finalist, subject to qualification or confirmation of the distance-event start list. Relay line-ups are still to be confirmed.

Day One

Heats – from 4am NZST, Tuesday 18 August

• Women’s 50m butterfly (Wilson)

• Men’s 50m butterfly (Salomonsson & Hou)

• Women’s 200m freestyle (Emmett, Lawson & Fisher)

• Men’s 200m freestyle (Coulter, Curling & Dickison)

• Women’s 100m backstroke (Menzies & Quayle)

• Men’s 100m backstroke (Bell, Muchirahondo, Shen & Paki)

• Women's 200m butterfly (Riley)

Finals (*subject to qualification) – from 12pm NZST

• Women’s 50m butterfly (Wilson*)

• Men’s 50m butterfly (Salomonsson* & Hou*)

• Women’s 200m freestyle (Emmett*, Lawson* & Fisher*)

• Men’s 200m freestyle (Coulter*, Curling* & Dickison*)

• Women’s 100m backstroke (Menzies* & Quayle*)

• Men’s 100m backstroke (Bell*, Muchirahondo*, Shen* & Paki*)

• Women's 200m butterfly (Riley*)

• Women's 1500m freestyle fastest timed final (Conley)

• Mixed 4x100m medley relay (team TBC)

Day Two

Heats – from 4am NZST, Wednesday 19 August

• Women's 400m individual medley (Riley)

• Men’s 400m individual medley (Muchirahondo)

• Women’s 100m freestyle (Lawson, Wilson & Fisher)

• Men’s 100m freestyle (Curling, Hou, Coulter, Salomonsson & Paki)

• Men's 100m breaststroke (Wheeler)

• Women’s 50m backstroke (Lawson, Menzies & Quayle)

• Men's 50m backstroke (Bell, Shen & Paki)

Finals (*subject to qualification) – from 12pm NZST

• Women's 400m individual medley (Riley*)

• Men’s 400m individual medley (Muchirahondo*)

• Women’s 100m freestyle (Lawson*, Wilson* & Fisher*)

• Men’s 100m freestyle (Curling*, Hou*, Coulter*, Salomonsson* & Paki*)

• Men's 100m breaststroke (Wheeler*)

• Women’s 50m backstroke (Lawson*, Menzies* & Quayle*)

• Men's 50m backstroke (Bell*, Shen* & Paki*)

• Women's 4x200m freestyle relay (team TBC)

• Men's 4x200m freestyle relay (team TBC)

Day Three

Heats – from 4am NZST, Thursday 20 August

• Women’s 400m freestyle (Emmett)

• Men’s 400m freestyle (Coulter & Dickison)

• Men's 100m butterfly (Salomonsson)

• Women’s 200m backstroke (Menzies, Quayle & Riley)

• Men's 200m backstroke (Muchirahondo, Paki & Bell)

• Men's 50m breaststroke (Wheeler)

Finals (*subject to qualification) – from 12pm NZST

• Women’s 400m freestyle (Emmett*)

• Men’s 400m freestyle (Coulter* & Dickison*)

• Men's 100m butterfly (Salomonsson*)

• Women’s 200m backstroke (Menzies*, Quayle* & Riley*)

• Men's 200m backstroke (Muchirahondo*, Paki* & Bell*)

• Men's 50m breaststroke (Wheeler*)

• Women's 4x100m freestyle relay (team TBC)

• Men's 4x100m freestyle relay (team TBC)

Day Four

Heats – from 4am NZST, Friday 21 August

• Women's 200m individual medley (Quayle, Riley & Menzies)

• Men’s 200m individual medley (Muchirahondo & Paki)

• Women’s 50m freestyle (Lawson, Wilson & Fisher)

• Men’s 50m freestyle (Shen, Curling, Hou, Dickison & Coulter)

• Men's 200m breaststroke (Wheeler)

• Women’s 800m freestyle timed final (Emmett* & Conley*)

Finals (*subject to qualification) – from 12pm NZST

• Women's 200m individual medley (Quayle*, Riley* & Menzies*)

• Men’s 200m individual medley (Muchirahondo* & Paki*)

• Women’s 50m freestyle (Lawson*, Wilson* & Fisher*)

• Men’s 50m freestyle (Shen*, Curling*, Hou*, Dickison* & Coulter*)

• Men's 200m breaststroke (Wheeler*)

• Women’s 800m freestyle fastest timed final (Emmett* & Conley*)

• Men's 4x100m medley relay (team TBC)

New Zealand team

Name	Club	Role
Mat Woofe	Hamilton Aquatics	Head Coach
Michelle Gillies	North Shore	Assistant Coach
Carl Gordon	Wharenui	Assistant Coach
Aidan Withington	Swim Rotorua	Assistant Coach

Lucas Bell	Wharenui	Carl Gordon
Paige Conley	Whanganui	Richard Gheel
Grayson Coulter	North Shore	Graham Hill / Michelle Gillies
Liam Curling	Coast	Wilrich Coetzee
Charlie Dickison	Nga Tai Tuatea a Taraika	Chris Paproski
Olivia Emmett	Swim Rotorua	Aidan Withington
Tandia Fisher	Wharenui	Carl Gordon
Rui Hou	Roskill	Josh Munro
Alyssa Lawson	Hamilton Aquatics	Ash Delaney (St Andrew's)
Laura Menzies	Wharenui	Carl Gordon
Ariel Muchirahondo	Swim Rotorua	Aidan Withington
Te Paki	Northwave	Monica Cooper
Bridie Quayle	Wharenui	Carl Gordon
Ariella Riley	Hamilton Aquatics	Mat Woofe
Neo Salomonsson	Kiwi & Swim Dunedin	Lars Humer
Bruce Shen	Phoenix Aquatics	David Lyles
Rylind Wheeler	Wharenui	Carl Gordon
Madeleine Wilson	SwimZone Racing	Frank Tourelle