Tight Finishes Highlight Open Water Championships in Taupō
- tanisha047
- 3 hours ago
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Competition Wrap - 2026 NZ Open Water Swimming Championships
The 2026 Swimming NZ national competition calendar commenced over the weekend with the 2026 NZ Open Water Swimming Championships, held at the picturesque Lake Taupō alongside the NZ Ocean Swim Series Epic Swim.
Swimmers were treated to spectacular conditions, delivering a host of close finishes across two action-packed days of racing, despite choppy waters testing competitors on day one.
The weekend opened with the 10km and 7.5km distances on Saturday, with the gruelling races culminating in exciting finishes, particularly on the women’s side.
Five women battled it out for the lead throughout the longest race of the competition, and when it came to the finish there was less than 30 seconds separating the top four. Swim Rotorua’s Olivia Emmett took the win (2:09:01.1), just ten seconds ahead of a nail-biting finish for second place between Olivia Bates (North Shore – 2:09:11.0) and Kezia Buissinne (North Shore – 2:09:11.9). The trio of 17-year-olds were closely followed by Emilia Finer (Neptune / Swim Dunedin – 2:09:29.7) who finished just off the podium.
New Caledonia’s Antoine Baldovini took the visitor gold in the men’s 10km event, with Ethan Stocks (Roskill – 2:10:06.4) earning the New Zealand gold ahead of teammate Daniel Kregting (Roskill – 2:11:08.7) and Jack Barton (North Shore – 2:16:47.5).
Tyler Lushkott (North Shore) was in a league of his own in the men’s 15-17 years 7.5km event, finishing in 1:33:51.1 to take the gold. Mt Maunganui teammates Sheldon Hogan (1:36:25.7) and Ryleigh McEwan (1:45:58.8) rounded out the podium with silver and bronze, respectively.
Nelson South’s Tegen Stewart (1:40:01.3) earned gold in the women’s 15-17 years event, with Maeve McDonnell (Howick Pakuranga – 1:46:10.2) and Cayleigh Blackburn (Waterhole – 1:56:18.0) rounding out the podium. Mana Bahival (Roskill – 2:12:31.8) earned gold for the 13-14 years age group.
The 2.5km distance rounded out the first day of competition in Taupō, with another tight race to the finish on the women’s side. Kathryn Bates (Phoenix Aquatics – 35:57.1) out-touched Brooke Humphries (North Shore – 35:57.5) for gold in the women’s open event, with Charlotte Welsh (North Shore – 36:25.5) rounding out the podium with bronze. Humphries won gold in the women’s 15-17 years age group, ahead of Welsh and Tasman’s Nia Linyard (36:32.6), while Kathryn Bates took out gold in the 13-14 years age group and was joined on the podium by Lilah Edgar (Aquabladz – 37:40.1) and Jorja Postill (39:15.4).
North Shore’s Jacob Humphries (31:24.2) took gold by over two minutes in the men’s race, with youngsters Jackson Rowlands (Aquabladz – 33:28.6) and Benjamin Crawford (QEII – 33:33.4) joining him on the open podium. Humphries’ victory also earned him the 15-17 years age title, with Ryan Hewertson (North Shore – 34:51.4) and Corné Diener (St Paul’s – 34:57.2) earning silver and bronze, respectively, for their age group. Rowlands and Crawford took gold and silver, respectively, in the 13-14 years age group, with Coast Swim Club’s Ryder Sax (43:18.9) rounding out the podium.
Tate Pichon (Club 37 – 40:19.3) took gold in the men’s 2.5km multi-class race, with Dannevirke’s Jonty Howland (53:36.1) earning silver.
The second day of racing featured Aquablack #289, Louis Clark (North Shore), who was looking to go back-to-back in the men’s 5km race. Clark faced some fierce competition from his young teammate Tyler Lushkott, who stuck with the experienced Clark throughout the race. Clark (1:00:03.1) finished less than two seconds ahead of Lushkott (1:00:04.7), with Dieter Buissinne (North Shore – 1:05:30.2) taking third place to make it an all-North Shore podium.
Lushkott also earned gold in the men’s 15-17 years age group for his efforts, with Antoine Baldovini (1:06:31.0) earning the visitor silver, Bradley Searle (North Shore – 1:09:39.6) winning silver for the New Zealand competitors, and Corné Diener (St Paul’s – 1:12:25.0) rounding out the podium for bronze. Dom Barton (North Shore – 1:07:45.2) took gold in the 13-14 years age group, with Jackson Rowlands (Aquabladz – 1:09:42.3) and Kaede Aish-Brough (Swim Waipa – 1:22:12.9) earning second and third place, respectively.
Emilia Finer (Neptune / Swim Dunedin – 1:05:21.6) delivered a convincing win in the women’s event to claim the national 5km title, finishing ahead of her nearest competitor by more than 40 seconds. It was another close finish for the remaining medals in the women’s field, with just over two seconds separating the second, third and fourth place finishers. Alexis Buissinne (North Shore – 1:06:06.8) timed her touch to perfection for silver, with her twin sister Kezia (1:06:08.6) earning the bronze medal just ahead of Olivia Bates (North Shore – 1:06:09.0).
The Buissinne sisters and Bates made up the podium in the 15-17 years age group, while Amelia McEwan (Mt Maunganui – 1:12:28.3) took gold in the 13-14 years age group ahead of Kathryn Bates (Phoenix Aquatics – 1:16:05.4) and Ziva Bunker (Whanganui – 1:20:29.3).
The 4 x 1km relays rounded out the weekend of racing in Taupō, with North Shore going three for three on wins in the men's, women's and mixed relay events, and all four of their teams entered finishing under the hour mark. Pukekohe picked up silver in the women's division and bronze in the mixed division.
Congratulations to the swimmers, their coaches and teams for their placings over the weekend. The full results from the championships can be found via the link below.
Spectators were treated to excellent viewing conditions throughout the weekend of racing, with Taupō putting on stunning weather across the two days. The 1.25km laps returned again in 2026, enabling the crowd to show their support to the swimmers from the shore more frequently than in years past. With Mt Ruapehu and Mt Ngauruhoe providing a striking backdrop to the racing across the lake, the crowd had an outstanding spectacle of open water swimming in Taupō.
North Shore (673 points) took out the top club points trophy for the second consecutive year, with the club incorporating the championships into their Cambridge-based summer training camp. Aquabladz (135 points) placed second and Pukekohe (89 points) was third overall. Find the full club points results via the link below.
Congratulations to each of the swimmers for taking part in the championships and the public Epic Swim.
Check out some of the awesome photos from the weekend taken by Xander NZ Photography (Instagram: @xandernzphoto) and Swimming NZ staff.
We'd like to pay tribute to our technical officials that volunteered their time and played a crucial role in bringing these championships to life. And a big thank you to the NZ Ocean Swim Series team for hosting us.
Other Open Water Swimming Competitions
Enjoyed the weekend? Don't miss out on other open water swimming competitions being held later this summer by checking out open water calendar.
