The 2023 New Zealand Swimming Championships will always hold a special place in our heart as the debut meet for CLUB37. Since launching the club a couple weeks back, we'd had more than our fair share of all-nighters and stressful phone calls, but there's no doubt it was all worth when we got to experience the pretty bloody awesome feeling of walking into the building with our own logo on the chest.
We couldn't have asked for a better start to the championships, with our Men's 4x100m Freestyle relay lighting up the water on day one to bring home our first National Championship title in a blistering 3:17.37 which is a fast enough time to have secured 13th place at the 2022 World Championships.
Day two was a busier day on the books for the team with the 100m Back, 50 Fly, 200 Free, 100 Breast and Men's 4x100m Medley. If there was ever any doubt who the best backstrokers were in the country, that was quickly put to rest when Andrew Jeffcoat and Zac Dell went 1-2 in the Men's 100 Back. Andrew's time was fast enough to secure his spot on the Aquablacks World Championships team, while Zac Dell also earned qualification on the Swimming New Zealand USA Tour team. Bede Aitu also booked his ticket to the World Championships in Japan securing his qualification for the Cook Islands team. In the Men's 50 fly Ikko Shibuya grabbed a solid 11th place in 25.74 at the same time as Carter Swift showed his impressive sprint distance versatility claiming a bronze medal in 24.53. The 200m Freestyle was an event that garnered a bit of attention, with Carter Swift the number one seed scratching out, that left the 18 year old Michael Han as our sole athlete in the event. A solid swim from Michael Han saw him earn a respectable 20th place in a deep field of experienced senior athletes. It was then the turn of the Breaststroker's with Phoebe Harris producing a quality 8th place swim in the 100 Breast as she tuned up for her focus 50m Breast later in the competition. We had two boys in the hunt for the 100m Breast title with both Josh Gilbert and Eli Litten cruising through their heats and into the final. Josh Gilbert proved he was the man to beat for a reason, storming home to take the gold medal 1:01.20. The Men's 4x100m Medley was a highlight end to the evening with our 'B Team' backing up for a strong 5th place performance, while our 'A Team' dominated the race and claimed another national title in 3:40.72.
After a lot of excitement over the opening couple of days, there were a few heavy bodies in the water on day three of the championships. Fortunately our team had been able to access private physio & sports massage freely throughout finals sessions and were moving pretty fresh all things considered. Josh Gilbert got the team off to a winning start in the 200m Breast, backing up from last night to claim his second national title in as many days. The boys then put on another clinic in the 50m Back, with Andrew Jeffcoat and Zac Dell repeating their gold and silver performances, to cement themselves as the premier backstrokers in the country. Bede Aitu also produced another impressive finals swim to break a Cook Islands national record. Gabi Fa'amausili absolutely crushed her return to racing in home waters, taking gold in the Women's 50m Back.
Day four of the championships was always circled in our calendars as a big one for the team, not only was it 100m Free day, but Andrew Jeffcoat would also have the chance to secure his triple crown in the Backstroke events. Our sprint freestyle boys got fired up from the gun in the 100m Freestyle with Carter Swift claiming a silver in his second best ever time, with Michael Pickett seemingly cruising his way to the bronze medal in preparation for his assault on the 50m Free the following day. Andrew Jeffcoat went out like a man with something to prove in the 200 back and boy oh boy did he prove it. Absolutely dominating the race from start to finish, on his way to the complete the Breaststroke three-peat. Rebecca Moynihan and Gabi Fa'amausili both knocked out some good freestyle swims over the 100m distance on their way to finish 4th & 5th respectively. Ikko Shibuya grabbed himself a nice 7th place finish in the final of the Men's 200m Fly. With the mixed 4x100m Freestyle crushing the competition again to win another national relay title in 3:32.89.
The fifth and final day would see our sprint specialists gear up for one last push. With the night getting off to a winning start at the hands of Josh Gilbert who by winning the 50m Breast also secured his triple crown in all the Breaststroke events. Josh Pickett would mark an impressive return to racing with some seriously fast swim speed earning him the silver medal, ahead of Eli Litten who just missed the podium securing a 4th place finish. Phoebe Harris was back battling it out in the front with a quality PB of 32.86 to grab 5th place in the final. It was then the turn of the sprint boys to fire up and man, did we witness something special... Michael Pickett going 22.11 at only 20 years of age to become the fastest kiwi of all time on his way to the gold medal. With Carter Swift grabbing a bronze in 22.77 at the same time as Zac Dell also dipped under 23 to finish in 4th place. Rebecca Moynihan and Gabi Fa'amausili got it done in Women's 50m Free grabbing a silver and bronze respectively. With the 4x100m Mixed Medley team rounding out the racing with a well earned silver to cap off a hell of a week by the whole team.
Our team for the 2023 New Zealand Swimming Championships (13 athletes) was made up on the following members:
- Bede Aitu
- Zac Dell
- Gabi Fa'amausili
- Josh Gilbert
- Michael Han
- Phoebe Harris
- Andrew Jeffcoat
- Eli Litten
- Rebecca Moynihan
- Josh Pickett
- Michael Pickett
- Ikko Shibuya
- Carter Swfit
Special thanks to all the parents, friends, and flatmates who turned up to support CLUB37. We appreciate it more than you'll ever know and are already fired up to make you proud over the rest of the season.
CLUB37 Debut Meet
The 2023 New Zealand Swimming Championships will always hold a special place in our heart as the debut meet for CLUB37. Since launching the club a couple weeks back, we'd had more than our fair share of all-nighters and stressful phone calls, but there's no doubt it was all worth when we got to experience the pretty bloody awesome feeling of walking into the building with our own logo on the chest.
