Event wrap from the 2023 Para Swimming World Series in Melbourne (17 - 19 February)
The Swimming New Zealand Para Swimming team kicked off their year in strong fashion over the weekend in Melbourne at the 2023 Para Swimming World Series. Held in conjunction with the Victorian Open Championships at Melbourne Sports & Aquatic Centre, our team shown brightly across the three day competition as they prepare for the 2023 Apollo Projects NZ Swimming Championships in early April.
Gaby Smith (Vikings) had some extra weight in her suitcase coming home, after winning the gold medal in the S10 400m Freestyle in a 16 & under years NZ Age Group Record (4:56.54). Lili-Fox Mason (Wharenui) was close behind to continue on her strong breakout year internationally in 2022 to claim the silver medal in the same race (4:59.48). This was the first time that both Gaby and Lili-Fox had broken the 5-minute mark in the 400m Freestyle and Lili-Fox's first international medal.
Asher Smith-Franklin (North Shore) had an outstanding weekend of racing, where he not only set personal bests at least once in every event but also broke the NZ Record (both Open and 16 & under years) along the way in each event respectively. Asher kick started his weekend in the S14 100m Butterfly (1:02.62), by dropping 1.3 seconds under his previous record. A strong swim in the heats in the SB14 100m Breaststroke (1:14.85) resulted in 0.6 second improvement on his previous record. A super heats swim saw a 2 seconds improvement in the SM14 200m Individual Medley, before breaking the NZ Record again in the final (2:23.04) for another 2 second improvement. Asher rounded out a great week with a 2 seconds improvement on his S14 200m Freestyle (2:10.16) to leave Melbourne with a handful of NZ Records (both Open and Age).
Erin Knox (SwimZone Racing) made a splash in her first international racing experience by winning a bronze medal in the female 50m Backstroke (36.58). Erin also broke her personal best twice in the S10 50m Freestyle (31.80) and S10 100m Backstroke (1:16.58), as well as once in the S10 100m Freestyle (1:10.64) and S10 50m Butterfly (34.65). Congratulations Erin
Overall, the team achieved a huge 73% personal best rate across the heats and 57% personal bests in the finals.
The next major event on the calendar for these swimmers is the 2023 Apollo Projects NZ Swimming Championships held in Auckland on 1 - 5 April, before preparing for another Para Swimming World Series event in Singapore the following month.
Congratulations to the whole team. A list of the full results are below:
Swimmer | Event | Heat Time | Finals Time | NZ Record |
Ella Benn (S9) | 100m Backstroke | 1:21.90 | 1:22.10 | |
Erin Knox (S10) | 100m Backstroke | 1:18.19 | 1:16.58 | |
Jack Bugler (S14) | 100m Backstroke | 1:17.58 | | |
Ieuan Edwards (S9) | 100m Butterfly | 1:14.15 | | |
Josh Willmer (S9) | 100m Butterfly | 1:12.64 | | |
Asher Smith-Franklin (S14) | 100m Butterfly | 1:02.62 | | Open & 16&U |
Lili-Fox Mason (S10) | 100m Butterfly | | 1:12.68 | |
Ella Benn (S9) | 400m Freestyle | | 5:13.49 | |
Gaby Smith (S10) | 400m Freestyle | 4:56.54 | 4:57.50 | Gold & 16&U |
Lili-Fox Mason (S10) | 400m Freestyle | 4:59.47 | 5:06.44 | Silver |
Josh Willmer (SB8) | 100m Breaststroke | 1:15.83 | 1:15.26 | |
Asher Smith-Franklin (SB14) | 100m Breaststroke | 1:14.85 | 1:15.75 | Open & 16&U |
Erin Knox (SB9) | 100m Breaststroke | 1:48.85 | | |
Gaby Smith (SB9) | 100m Breaststroke | 1:21.05 | 1:22.27 | |
Erin Knox (S10) | 50m Freestyle | 32.14 | 31.80 | |
Gaby Smith (S10) | 50m Freestyle | 31.46 | 31.27 | |
Ieuan Edwards (S9) | 50m Freestyle | 29.19 | | |
Jack Bugler (S14) | 50m Freestyle | 28.83 | | |
Lili-Fox Mason (S10) | 100m Freestyle | 1:08.95 | | |
Gaby Smith (S10) | 100m Freestyle | 1:08.10 | 1:08.11 | |
Erin Knox (S10) | 100m Freestyle | 1:10.64 | | |
Jack Bugler (S14) | 100m Freestyle | 1:02.74 | | |
Erin Knox (S10) | 50m Butterfly | 34.65 | | |
Erin Knox (S10) | 50m Backstroke | | 36.58 | Bronze |
Ieuan Edwards (SM9) | 200m Individual Medley | 2:44.52 | | |
Josh Willmer (SM9) | 200m Individual Medley | 2:46.88 | | |
Asher Smith-Franklin (SM14) | 200m Individual Medley | 2:25.48 | 2:23.04 | Open & 16&U |
Ella Benn (SM9) | 200m Individual Medley | 2:59.11 | | |
Gaby Smith (SM10) | 200m Individual Medley | 2:41.57 | 2:41.67 | 16&U |
Lili-Fox Mason (SM10) | 200m Individual Medley | 2:53.53 | | |
Jack Bugler (S14) | 200m Freestyle | 2:13.27 | | |
Asher Smith-Franklin (S14) | 200m Freestyle | 2:10.16 | | Open & 16&U |
