Hazel Ouwehand 50 Fly Record, Distance and Youth Headline New Zealand Nationals
Hazel Ouwehand lowered her national record in the women’s 50 butterfly, the highlight of the Apollo Projects New Zealand Swimming Championships in Auckland last week.
The record swim was one of many outstanding performances, led by a renowned distance contingent headed by Erika Fairweather and teenage talents, on the women’s side in particular. The performances have set the stage for selection of a 12-strong delegation to the World Aquatics Championships, as well as nine swimmers for the World Junior Championships.
Ouwehand was the standout, going 25.43 on Friday to win the women’s 50 fly. She lowered her record from 25.88. Earlier in the day, she “called herself out” on social media, announcing that she intended to swim a 25 and lower her record.
“That felt phenomenal, absolutely phenomenal!,” she told Swimming NZ. “That was the goal going into it tonight, was to break my NZ record, I’ve been really close to it the last few months and I knew that I had it in me. I was thinking 25.66s, but to go 25.43s, I’m beyond happy.”
Ouwehand won the women’s 100 fly in 58.81, .48 seconds off the A cut. She will not be headed to Worlds, though, “for a myriad of positive reasons,” per Swimming NZ. But New Zealand will still send two in the 50 fly, with Zoe Pedersen getting an A cut in 26.15, which is also the national 18-year-old record. Third place was Laura Quilter in 26.22, also an A cut for the 32-year-old who came out of retirement and gets a Worlds trip to Singapore for her efforts.
Pedersen had a breakout meet. She twice lowered the national junior record in the women’s 50 free, her fastest time of 25.44 good for third (Chelsey Edwards won in 25.16, followed by Quilter’s 25.26). Pedersen was also third in the 100 fly and third in the 100 free.
Fairweather was typically dominant. She swept the 200 free (1:56.56), 400 free (4:03.06) and 800 free (8:21.67) to secure Worlds A cuts in all three. Most impressively, she had company in each. Milana Tapper earned the A cut in the 200 free by going 1:57.95 to get to her first Worlds. The 400 and 800 featured three A cuts apiece. Caitlin Deans went 8:29.32 to get the spot in the 800 ahead of Eve Thomas’ 8:30.00. Thomas returned the favor by going 4:08.05 to Deans’ 4:08.81 in the 400 free.
Dean placed third in the 200 free, ahead of Edwards and Thomas. Tapper won the 100 free in 54.95, with Edwards (55.13) second and Pedersen third. Deans also secured an A cut by winning the 1,500 in 16:12.18.
The final day ended with two A cuts for 50 backstrokers. Amber George won the women’s race in 27.92 to get to Singapore. Andrew Jeffocat’s 24.89 in the men’s likewise punched him a ticket. George had tied for the win in the 100 back with Milan Glintmeyer in 1:00.84, within four tenths of an A cut. Quilter was second in the 50 back.
Teen Monique Wieruszowski swept the women’s breaststroke events, going 31.25 in the 50, 2:31.92 in the 200 and 1:09.68 in the 100.
The contingent of veterans on the men’s side didn’t quite hit past speeds, a group that didn’t include Lewis Clareburt, who is part of the Worlds team despite not taking part in the meet. Paris Olympian Kane Follows fell shy of a spot at Worlds despite two national titles. He went 1:58.39 in the 200 back and 55.23 in the 100 back. Carter Swift clocked 49.07 to edge Cameron Gray by .11 seconds to the 100 free crown. The Paris Olympian Gray was also second to Jeffcoat in the 50 back after winning the 50 fly in 23.83 and isn’t on the Worlds team. Paris sprinter Taiko Torepe-Ormsby didn’t compete.
Georgina McCarthy assembled an impressive meet. She won the 400 IM in 4:45.67, the 200 back in 2:13.59 and the 200 IM in 2:15.39. Second in the 400 IM was Tahitian 15-year-old Videau Deotille in what appears to be a national record.
Louis Clark earned a place at Worlds in the new 3-kilometer swim by winning the 1,500 free in a B cut of 15:25.82. He also won the 800 free, was second to Brendan Visser in the 400 free and second to Kevin Zhang in the 200 free. Without Torepe-Ormsby, Harrison Klouwens brushed within .09 of the A cut in the 50 free, winning in 22.16. Hara Hughes swept the men’s breaststroke events, with 100 fly winner Caleb Carlisle his runner-up in the 50.
The other name to watch on the men’s side was 16-year-old Ariel Muchirahondo. He won the 400 IM and set national age-group records in both backstroke events.
Muchirahondo is among nine swimmers headed to the World Junior Championships in Otopeni, Romania, in the fall. Pedersen will represent her country at both competitions, and the World Juniors delegation includes 2023 World Juniors silver medalist Wieruszowski.
New Zealand World Championships Team
- Lewis Clareburt, Caitlin Deans, Erika Fairweather, Amber George, Finn Harland, Andrew Jeffcoat, Savannah-Eve Martin, Zoe Pedersen, Laura Quilter, Milana Tapper, Eve Thomas, Louis Clark (open water)
- Coaches: Graham Hill, Mitch Nairn, Michael Weston, Matthew Ingram (manager)
New Zealand World Junior Championships Team
- Milan Glintmeyer, Daniel Kregting, Alyssa Lawson, James Leigh, Ariel Muchirahondo, Zoe Pedersen, Igor Russanov, Alyssa Tapper, Monique Wieruszowski
- Coaches: John Gatfield, Aidan Withington, Amanda White (manager)