Competition Wrap - 2025 Apollo Projects NZ Open Water Swimming Championships
The first national competition of the 2025 calendar year was held over the weekend with the 2025 Apollo Projects NZ Open Water Swimming Championships held in conjunction with the Banana Boat NZ Ocean Swim Series in the beautiful Lake Taupo. The weather conditions were stunning and the swimmers produced close finishes across the two days of racing.
Four swimmers in particular featured heavily across the championships with the two duos each having two epic battles each that all came down to a sprint to the finish. Alex Dunkley (Roskill) and Louis Clark (North Shore) were inseparable across the men's 10km and 5km events respectively, as were Abbey Smale (Wharenui) and Ruby Heath (Neptune & Swim Dunedin) in the women's events. Incredibly, each of the four swimmers claimed a national title as well as a silver medal for their efforts.
Dunkley was the favourite to add his third consecutive national title in the 10km event on Saturday morning but Clark was up for the fight throughout. The duo established a lead over the rest of the field by the end of the first lap and gradually extended that gap each time they completed a lap of the 1.25km course. With 2.5km left to swim, Dunkley slowed to feed and Clark rolled on to his back to wait, so it appeared it would end in a sprint to the line. Clark hit the front with about 400m left and tried to make a move, where Dunkley decided to sit on his feet and draft in. As they turned at the final buoy with 50m to swim it was a flat out sprint to the finish, with Dunkley (2hrs 7mins 20secs) edging out Clark (2hrs 7mins 23secs) on the touch to win his third consecutive 10km open title.
Speaking after the race, Dunkley was pleased with the result.
"That race was a game of tactics. It was fun and it kept me focused all race. It's pretty special to win three in a row to be alongside some of our other great swimmers from over the years."
Ethan Stocks (Roskill - 2hrs 11mins 17secs) rounded out the open podium with his first open age national medal, whilst also taking out the 15 - 17 years age group ahead of Gyan Tyagi (North Shore - 2hrs 39mins 19secs) and Max Downey (St Peter's - 2hrs 40mins 25secs).
Another sprint to the line came shortly after in the women's 10km. A group of the top three females swam together with some of the males for the opening six laps, before Smale and Heath forged a gap ahead of Sophie Hay (Hamilton Aquatics & RPC Waikato). Heath upped the pace on the final lap and thought she had established a lead, but Smale had followed the move. It meant they were set for another 50m sprint to the finish, one that saw Smale (2hrs 12mins 56secs) only just beat Heath (2hrs 12mins 56secs).
Smale loved the battle as she claimed her first national open title.
"I really enjoyed the swim with the girls, it was a great race. It's nice to see the rewards from the training I've been doing paying off and I'm really pleased to win my first national 10km title."
Hay came home with the bronze (2hrs 16mins 55secs) whilst Amogh Tyagi (North Shore - 2hrs 52mins 30secs) claimed the 15 - 17 years title.
The duos resumed battles the following day in the 5km event. Dunkley and Clark went stroke for stroke throughout as the pair prepared for the inevitable showdown at the sprint to the finish. Clark (1hr 2mins 35secs) grabbed the inside line at the final turn buoy and used his surf lifesaving background to guide Dunkley (1hr 2mins 36secs) off the racing line into the finish chute to reverse the fortunes of the previous day to win his first national open water title.
Clark was overjoyed with the result and for landing the male spot to race at the aQuella Midmar Mile in South Africa next month.
"I'm absolutely stoked with that race. I've got to give a massive shoutout to Alex for a great race overall, I don't think I've had as an exciting race as that in years. Well done to the other athletes too, it's been a great day."
Jack Barton (North Shore - 1hr 3mins 24secs) pipped Stocks (Roskill - 1hr 3mins 25secs) to the line for the open bronze and the 15 - 17 years title, with Marcell Kepess (Nelson South - 1hr 11mins 42secs) the bronze in that age group. Tyler Lushkott (United - 1hr 4mins 6secs) was the sixth fastest overall to claim the 13 - 14 years title, with Charles Jessen (Kiwi West Aquatics - 1hr 11mins 38secs) and Charlie Dickison (Nga Tai Tuatea a Taraika - 1hr 12mins 27secs) rounding out the podium.
In the women's event, the stage had been set for another showdown between Smale and Heath and it lived up to the hype. Both swimmers couldn't be separated through the four laps until the final sprint to the line, with Heath (1hr 6mins 19secs) getting the honours this time around over Smale (1hr 6mins 22secs).
Heath is looking forward to the opportunity to race at the largest open water event in the world next month and was pleased with her efforts over the weekend.
"Apart from the chop, it was good conditions and the water felt warmer than yesterday. It was a solid swim and I'm happy with how I strategised the race making sure that I finished strong and held my pace throughout."
Olivia Bates (North Shore - 1hr 6mins 46secs) wasn't far behind to claim the bronze and gold in her 15 - 17 years age group, with Ariella Riley (Hamilton Aquatics - 1hr 8mins 43secs) and Sophia Maltai-Spence (Liz van Welie Aquatics - 1hr 15mins 55secs) on the podium in that age group. For the 13 - 14 years, Maeve McDonnell (Howick Pakuranga - 1hr 12mins 19secs) had Evie Grant (Australia - 1hr 12mins 27secs) claim visitor silver, Millie Skidmore (Trojans - 1hr 15mins 54secs) kiwi silver and Kaylee Smith (St Paul's - 1hr 16mins 36secs) bronze to join her on the podium.
Jack Potier (Coast - 1hr 34mins 52secs) was classy in the men's 7.5km event as he continued to showcase his development in open water, with Barton (1hr 37mins 47secs) winning the silver medal ahead of 15-year-old Leo English (Swim Rotorua - 1hr 39mins 6secs) who took the bronze medal.
Potier was pleased with the result after crossing the finish line.
"It was a great last hit out in New Zealand with the boys before heading off to Australia for university. I always love racing at these championships. I had my first open water race in 2020 and it's always been my favourite event of the year."
Olivia Bates (1hr 44mins 5secs) dominated her 15 - 17 years age group in the women's 7.5km. Amelia Croft (Manurewa - 2hrs 22secs) and Lilly Claridge (Nelson South - 2hrs 7mins 20secs) joined her on the podium. Maeve McDonnell (1hr 54mins 51secs) also claimed a comfortable win in the 13 - 14 years age group over Elysia Rollo (Pukekohe - 2hrs 22mins 15secs).
Bates enjoyed the conditions as she claimed the national title.
"I liked that swim. With the course being 1.25km laps this year I found that mentally harder as there were more laps to swim. But the lake was smooth so it was a nice swim."
In the 2.5km events, Blair Helms (North Shore - 31mins 6secs) added the men's title to his 5km crown from 2024 ahead of teammates Samuel Poching (North Shore - 31mins 31secs) and John Quirk (33mins 4secs).
Helms was thrilled to be back in the water and kick start his year.
"I really enjoyed the swim. It was a good race with great competition and cool to share the podium with my North Shore teammates. It was the first meet back from an injury so it's nice to be back in the water."
Asher Smith-Franklin (North Shore - 34mins 16secs) added an open water national title to his collection by taking out the men's multi-class event. Teammates David Beck (Club 37 - 38mins 1sec) and Tate Pichon (Club 37 - 39mins 3secs) joined him on the podium. Quinn Pike (Hamilton Aquatics - 37mins 32secs) won the women's title as six classified swimmers completed the course as we see more opportunities for swimmers with a disability to compete at the national level.
Luke Jackson (North Shore - 33mins 11secs) was the men's 15 - 17 years champion as he crossed the line fifth fastest overall, with Orlando Hardie (Hamilton Aquatics & RPC Waikato - 34mins 6secs) and Kain Chapman (Waterhole - 34mins 12secs) joining him on the age group podium. For the 13 - 14 years, Charles Jessen (34mins) claimed the gold with Jackson Rowlands (Aquabladz - 34mins 21secs) silver and James Heap (St Paul's - 34mins 28secs) bronze.
Youngster Alanna Rawson (St Peter's - 35mins 9secs) was impressive as she claimed the open age title in the women's 2.5km, as well as the 13 - 14 years age group. Chloe Peters (Hamilton Aquatics & RPC Waikato - 35mins 20secs) won the 15 - 17 years age group and the open silver, with teammate Indiana Riley (Hamilton Aquatics - 35mins 30secs) the open bronze and 15 - 17 years silver, with Bianca Chan (Roskill - 35mins 43secs) rounding out the age podium. Rawson shared her age podium with Sophie Peters (Hamilton Aquatics - 35mins 55secs) and Millie Skidmore (Trojans - 36mins 4secs).
The 4 x 1km relays were the final events of the championships when they started late morning on Sunday. North Shore took gold and silver in the men's category, with "The Bomb Squad" (51mins 12secs) comfortably the fastest team ahead of "The Big Four" (55mins 37secs) and "Team English" (Swim Rotorua - 58mins 33secs). In the women's, "Team McDonnell" (Howick Pakuranga - 1hr 4mins 20secs) claimed gold with "Team Bowskill (Pukekohe - 1hr 6mins 54secs) the silver and "Team de Vries" (Kiwi West Aquatics - 1hr 8mins 42secs) the bronze. For the mixed event, "Team North Shore" (55mins 7secs) were the second fastest overall to win their category gold ahead of "Team Alderton" (St Paul's - 1hr 2mins 27secs) and "Team Thompson" (Kiwi West Aquatics - 1hr 6mins 5secs).
Congratulations to the swimmers, their coaches and team for their placings over the weekend. The full results from the championships can be found via the link below.
To complement the close finishes at the championships, the spectators were treated to excellent viewing conditions. The 1.25km laps enabled the crowd to see the swimmers more frequently than last year and the location of the closest turn buoy and finish line being so close to the beach also aided the atmosphere. With Mt Ruapehu and Mt Ngauruhoe a striking backdrop to the racing across the lake, the crowd had an outstanding spectacle of open water swimming in Taupo.
North Shore (444 points) were the winners of the top club points trophy across the championships after bringing their squads to Taupo as part of their training camp and producing some great performances. Hamilton Aquatics (331 points) placed second after their win in 2024 and Roskill (166 points) was third overall. Please find the full top 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 James (Instagram: @xanderjamesphotography).
We'd like to pay a special shoutout to our technical officials who volunteered their time and played a crucial role in bringing the championships to life. Thanks also to the Banana Boat 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.
We have listed some of the upcoming opportunities below:
2025 Harlequins Zonal Secondary School Open Water Swimming Championships & Rangitoto Swim
Date: Saturday 1 February
Location: Rangitoto Island to Auckland
2025 NZ Secondary School Open Water Swimming Championships & Legend of the Lake
Date: Saturday 29 March
Location: Blue Lake, Rotorua
2025 Aquaknights Zonal Secondary School Open Water Swimming Championships & The Mount Swim
Date: Saturday 19 April
Location: Mt Maunganui Beach
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