Fairweather bronze 200m freestyle, Pan Pacs
- 1 day ago
- 2 min read
Erika Fairweather claimed a bronze medal in the women's 200m freestyle on day one of the Pan Pacific Swimming Championships at the William Woollett Jr. Aquatics Centre in Irvine, California, breaking her own New Zealand record in the process.
Fairweather qualified second-fastest for the final behind Australian star Lani Pallister.
LATEST HEADLINES:
In the final, Pallister and Canadian Summer McIntosh battled for, with the Australian just pipping McIntosh to gold with a time of 1m 53.67s.
Fairweather, a finalist in the event at the 2024 Paris Olympics, came third with a time of 1m 55.05s.
Australia is without several of its biggest names, including Mollie O'Callaghan, who won gold at the 2024 Paris Olympics in the 200m freestyle and gold at the recent Commonwealth Games.
Pallister took the silver medal in the 200m freestyle at the Games in Glasgow, with Fairweather the bronze.
McIntosh skipped the recent Commonwealth Games to ensure she was peaking for the Pan Pacs, which haven't been held since 2018 due to the event being disrupted by Covid.
A 15-strong New Zealand team is at the Pan Pacific Swimming Championships, which brings together leading swimmers including from the US, Australia, Canada, and Japan.
Double Glasgow New Zealand gold medallist Lewis Clareburt, came third in the men's 200m freestyle B final. Clareburt will race in several events across the event, including his favoured individual medley events.
In the women's 50m butterfly Kiwi Zoe Pedersen made the A final where she finished 7th in a time of 26.45s.
