Freestyler powers into the record books
Christchurch’s Taiko Torepe-Ormsby made one heck of a splash as the New Zealand Swimming Championships wrapped up in Hastings at the weekend.
No New Zealander had ever swum the 50-metre freestyle in under 22 seconds, but that all changed on Saturday as Torepe-Ormsby stormed into the record books in a time that doubled as Olympic qualifying standard.
The crowd at the Hawke’s Bay Regional Aquatics Centre were left on their feet and in disbelief as Torepe-Ormsby powered to a morning heat win in a time of 21.86s in the marquee sprint event.
“I’m lost for words to be honest, I’ve dreamed about this moment for my whole life,” Torepe-Ormsby said afterwards.
“I’ve been going fast the last couple of days, doing the sets my coach told me and I just can’t believe I got that Olympic time.”
Torepe-Ormsby has been living and studying in the United States for the past three years, swimming for the University of Wisconsin. While competing there last year he had equalled the previous fastest NZ 50m free time of 22.11, which had been set by Michael Pickett at the NZ champs just four months earlier.
He then backed up his feats by winning Saturday night’s final in 22.08s.
“Definitely can’t complain about today, pretty happy overall,” Torepe-Ormsby said. “Coming into tonight there was a lot less pressure after making that time this morning and I’m really pleased to get that title.”
Torepe-Ormsby was one of seven swimmers to go under Olympic qualifying times at the event, with Lewis Clareburt, Erika Fairweather, Eve Thomas, Hazel Ouwehand, Cameron Gray and Kane Follows doing likewise, while Cameron Leslie, Lili-Fox Mason, Joshua Willmer and Jesse Reynolds swam under the Paralympic qualification times.
After what was the final opportunity for the country’s top swimmers to qualify for Paris, Swimming New Zealand Olympic programme lead Gary Francis said they were thrilled with the results.
“Our swimmers have really stood up at this meet, they’ve been world class and have left it all out there, we’re incredibly proud of them,” he said.
“There’s been a fantastic energy in this pool and the future’s looking bright for swimming in New Zealand.”
The final session of racing also saw sixteen-year-old Monique Wieruszowski re-write the record books, breaking her own record in the women’s 50m breaststroke − a non-Olympic event − with a time of 30.38s in the final.
Meanwhile, Tokyo Olympian Clareburt powered his way to victory in the men’s 200m individual medley, just 0.09s off his own NZ record set at the 2021 Games.
“That was a good swim for me, I haven’t come anywhere near that record in three years so I’m definitely heading in the right direction,” he said.
Clareburt’s swim followed a huge battle between fellow Olympians Erika Fairweather and Eve Thomas in the women’s 800m freestyle final.
The pair went stroke-for-stroke for almost the whole race, with Thomas slightly ahead into the last 50m before Fairweather, more accustomed to the 200m and 400m events, pulled ahead in a sprint finish to touch in 8:21.67s, just ahead of Thomas in 8:22.27s.
“I’m a bit tired now, the 800 definitely takes it out of you but I'm happy with that result,” Fairweather said.
“I’m lost for words to be honest, I’ve dreamed about this moment for my whole life.”
Taiko Torepe-Ormsby