Records Galore Highlight Excellent Atmosphere at NZ Secondary Schools
- dale493
- Jul 29
- 6 min read
Competition Wrap - 2025 NZ Secondary School Swimming Championships
There were 170 schools converge on Waterworld Te Rapa for the 2025 NZ Secondary School Swimming Championships. The four-day competition saw 700 swimmers represent their school and an excellent atmosphere around the facility as schools and swimmers battled for the top school and national secondary school titles.
Locals from Waikato Diocesan School led the way with cheering on their teammates and creating a positive atmosphere, proudly displaying posters and screaming their support each time one of their students was racing in the pool.
There were multiple moments that got the crowd making plenty of noise across the championships, with the emphasis on representing the school with pride shining through strongly throughout. The relays were once again a highlight, with the cheering at fever pitch during the team events. The variety of relays across each session provided schools of different sizes to compete, and it was lovely to see neighbouring schools work together to ensure students had the opportunity to swim.
The random medley skins were also a treat, with some close battles for double school points putting on a great spectacle. The slowest two swimmers per round were eliminated until the final two swimmers remained in the fourth and final round, with the stroke determined for the following round by being drawn out of a hat.
The Under 16 age groups were held on Friday afternoon, with breaststroke, butterfly and freestyle the strokes used to determine the final two. Kase Glintmeyer (Whangaparaoa College) and Grayson Coulter (Rangitoto College) were locked in a showdown in breaststroke, with the older Glintmeyer edging out the youngster marginally at the finish. Similarly, there was a good share of strokes for the girls as backstroke, breaststroke and butterfly were drawn to decide the final two. Jade Lyles (Crimson Global Academy) and Mackenzie Tobin (St Cuthbert’s College – Epsom) met with backstroke to determine the winner, with Lyles taking the win.
In the older 16 and over age groups on Saturday afternoon, freestyle, butterfly and breaststroke confirmed the final two for the boys. Local Orlando Hardie (Hamilton Boys) and Rylind Wheeler (Christ’s College) came down to a freestyle race for the final, with Hardie getting the honours in his home training pool. The girls were treated to three rounds of butterfly to reach the final, with club teammates Chloe Peters (Sacred Heart Girls – Hamilton) and Ariella Riley (Waikato Diocesan) battling it out with backstroke where Peters took the victory.
For those wishing to re-live some of these performances and the atmosphere at the championships, the livestreams for all sessions are available free and on demand on the Maori+ YouTube channel.
We have tried to celebrate some of the key performances from the weekend below, including noteworthy record-breakers, top school trophy award winners and sponsor awards. Congratulations to every swimmer who participated as there were lots of personal bests achieved.
New Zealand Records
Multiple New Zealand records were broken across the championships, with fast swims witnessed across the sessions. Grayson Coulter was a standout, breaking nine 13 years New Zealand age records across the four days of competition. Ariel Muchirahondo (John Paul College) demonstrated his continued strong form ahead of the 2025 World Aquatics Junior Swimming Championships next month with five 16 years NZ age records, as did Milan Glintmeyer (Whangaparaoa College) with two 16 years NZ age records of her own in backstroke events. Rylee Sayer (Hauraki Plains College) also displayed her readiness to debut as an Aquablack at the 2025 World Para Swimming Championships in Singapore this September, with four NZ records to her name as well. Overall, a total of 29 national records were broken across the championships.
An overview of these record-breaking performances has been displayed below by session:
Session One
Grayson Coulter – 200m freestyle (1:56.89) – 13 years NZ age record
Grayson Coulter – 400m freestyle (3:56.78) – 13 years NZ age record
Session Two
Grayson Coulter – 100m individual medley (59.38) – 13 years NZ age record
Ariel Muchirahondo – 100m individual medley (56.28) – 16 years NZ age record
Charlotte Murphy (Cashmere High) – 100m individual medley (2:01.87) – SM6 NZ record
Grayson Coulter – 100m backstroke (58.20) – 13 years NZ age record
Milan Glintmeyer – 100m backstroke (59.38) – 16 years NZ age record
Rylee Sayer – 50m freestyle (35.70) – S7 NZ record
Session Three
Ariel Muchirahondo – 200m butterfly (1:58.17) – 16 years NZ age record
Monique Wieruszowski (Rangitoto College) – 50m breaststroke (31.25) – 18 years NZ age record
Emily Mullany (Solway College) – 50m breaststroke (43.38) – SB19 NZ record
Quinn Pike (St Peter’s School – Cambridge) – 50m breaststroke (41.04) – SB19 NZ record
Grayson Coulter – 100m freestyle (50.61) – 13 years NZ age record
Rylee Sayer – 100m freestyle (1:18.22) – S7 NZ record
Session Four
Rylee Sayer – 100m breaststroke (1:47.51) – SB7 16&U years NZ age record
Grayson Coulter – 50m butterfly (25.96) – 13 years NZ age record
Quinn Pike – 50m butterfly (33.50) – S19 NZ record
Ariel Muchirahondo – 200m backstroke (1:55.38) – 16 years NZ age record
Session Five
Milan Glintmeyer – 50m backstroke (27.58) – 16 years NZ age record
Charlotte Murphy – 50m backstroke (55.97) – S6 NZ record
Grayson Coulter – 100m butterfly (56.90) – 13 years NZ age record
Grayson Coulter – 200m freestyle (1:50.07) – 13 years NZ age record
Liam Curling – 100m freestyle (50.29) – 15 years NZ age record
Leo English – 200m freestyle (1:50.39) – 15 years NZ age record
Ariel Muchirahondo – 200m freestyle (1:47.33) – 16 years NZ age record
Quinn Pike – 200m freestyle (2:17.33) – S19 NZ record
Session Six
Ariel Muchirahondo – 200m individual medley (1:59.03) – 16 years NZ age record
Grayson Coulter – 50m freestyle (24.17) – 13 years NZ age record
Rylee Sayer – 50m freestyle (34.60) – S7 NZ record
Top School Trophies
The top school trophies were tight battles and highly sought after across the championships, with the double points from the skins proving crucial in determining one of the winners.
Top Co-Ed School
Rangitoto College (1273 points) were comprehensive to retain the Top Co-Ed School trophy ahead of Botany Downs (675 points) and Whangaparaoa College (598 points).
Top Boys School
Auckland Grammar (642 points) won their first Top Boys School trophy ahead of four-time reigning champions Westlake Boys (423 points) and locals Hamilton Boys (332 points).
Top Girls School
The Top Girls School was claimed by St Cuthbert’s College – Epsom (599 points) jumping ahead of Waikato Diocesan (579) once the double points from the skins were added, with Diocesan School for Girls (286 points) in third.
Top Multi-Class School
Feilding High (208 points) narrowly claimed the Top Multi-Class School trophy ahead of Hauraki Plains College (195 points) and Solway College (193 points).
Top Boys Relay School
Hamilton Boys (174 points) comfortably claimed the Top Boys Relay School ahead of Rangitoto College (114 points) and Westlake Boys (97 points).
Top Girls Relay School
The Top Girls Relay School trophy was decided on the final day, with Rangitoto College (147 points) retaining the title ahead of St Cuthbert’s College – Epsom and Waikato Diocesan both tied for second (121 points).
Sponsor Awards
We were grateful to have some of the competition partners offer three awards during the championships.
Caltex - Good Sport Award
Awarded to a coach, manager or swimmer who is a good sport by making a positive impact on those around them.
Winner: Ethan Agi (Team Manager - Pinehurst School)
The Caltex Good Sports award was presented to Ethan Agi as their team manager for going above and beyond to support his athletes across the championships and for hitting the ground running, helping to foster a positive environment for those around him.
Bayleys - Altogether Better Award
Awarded to a school who is altogether better.
Winner: St Andrew's College
The Bayleys “Altogether Better” award was presented to St Andrew’s College for living out the “Altogether Better” motto by helping as many secondary school students take part in the championships. They helped students from neighbouring schools in Christchurch to be part of their travel plans for the championships. They stuck together as a wider team and have supported each other, showing that teamwork goes way beyond racing in the pool.
NZ Carbon Farming - Sustainability Tips & Tricks Award
Awarded to a school who offered and lives out the best sustainability tip.
Winner: Hauraki Plains College
The NZ Carbon Farming award was presented to Hauraki Plains College for their sustainability programme that they’ve created in recent years, where they grow trees that are planted along the waterways in the local community to help reduce the farm run off into their rivers. They also have fruit trees on the school farm, where they donate excess fruit to the local community.
