Day Six Wrap – 2024 World Aquatics Swimming Championships (25m) - Budapest, Hungary
Helena Gasson (Coast) has signed off on her international career representing New Zealand in fantastic form on the final day of the 2024 World Aquatics Swimming Championships (25m) in Budapest. She set a massive personal best and New Zealand Record on the backstroke lead-off to help set up the team with a New Zealand Record in the women's 4 x 100m medley. With the one last swim, Gasson achieved her third and fourth New Zealand Records of the championships to hang up the goggles in style.
The women’s 4 x 100m medley relay was the standout for our Kiwis on the final day of racing in Budapest. Gasson showed off her short course prowess one final time as she led off the team in the backstroke leg. The Rio Olympian executed her trademark good start to give the team the lead at the first transition after she pulled away over the final 25m against the Neutral Athletes (3:51.81). Gasson (57.04 split) smashed her New Zealand Record in the 100m backstroke set earlier on day one of the championships, going 0.39 seconds faster than her best-ever time in the final race of her career. Brearna Crawford (Waitakere) dove in next for the breaststroke leg, with the Indiana University senior touching second at halfway (1:07.13 split). Hazel Ouwehand (59.27 split), who raced in the semi-final in the 100m butterfly on day four, returned to the pool for her final swim of the championships, where she maintained the second position to hand over to youngster Zoe Pedersen (Coast). Pedersen continued her impressive week with a fast freestyle split (53.58) to anchor the team home in second place. The team (3:57.02) broke the New Zealand Record set in Melbourne two years ago by nearly four seconds to finish 12th overall. It was a fitting way for Gasson to round out her career, producing her best in her last race to break two more New Zealand Records.
Gasson was thrilled with the team performance in the relay.
“I am incredibly proud to have ended my career with two NZ records and on a massive high. After a long week of racing, the girls gave everything that they had left. I’m really proud of the whole team and couldn’t have asked for a better ending.”
Congratulations to Gasson, coach Michael Weston and her support team on her career and for finishing on a high in Budapest, with four New Zealand Records, three semi-finals and four top 16 results this week. Congratulations also to Brearna Crawford, Hazel Ouwehand, and Zoe Pedersen, and their respective coaches and support team.
Emma Godwin (Heretaunga Sundevils) had been involved in a relay earlier in the week, but got the opportunity to swim her preferred women’s 200m backstroke as her sole individual event of the championships. The experienced swimmer was in lane two of the fourth heat and got away well to be second at the 25m and third at the 50m turn. The Hawke’s Bay local settled into her pace through the middle laps before finishing seventh in her heat (2:06.96). Godwin finished 20th overall in a time that was the fourth best of her career. Congratulations to Godwin, coach Willy Benson and her support team for her performances in Budapest.
The men’s 4 x 100m medley relay team raced from lane six of the first heat. Cooper Morley (North Shore) got the team off to a great start, where he surfaced close to the 15m line off the walls and swam the second fastest backstroke time of his career (51.35 split), just behind the time of his individual swim earlier in the week. Sam Brown (Coast) swam the breaststroke leg and performed admirably in a discipline that isn’t his preferred, maintaining the second position at halfway (1:00.43 split). Ben Littlejohn (St Paul’s) was the third swimmer in the water, where he swam a fast butterfly leg (51.92 split) to handover to Hugo Wrathall (Jasi) in second place. Wrathall (48.98 split) maintained the second position in the freestyle leg and brought home a strong finish for the team (3:32.68). The team ended up in 22nd overall to conclude the morning session. Congratulations to each of the swimmers, their coaches and support team.
Jesse Welsh (Club 37) had to wait until the last day of competition to dive into racing at the Duna Arena. Swimming out of lane five in the second heat of the women’s 200m freestyle, she demonstrated intent from the start to turn second at the first two walls. By the halfway mark, a line of four women went stroke for stroke, before she gave everything she had left to touch fifth in the heat (2:01.61). She placed 29th overall at her first World Aquatics Swimming Championships (25m), notching the fifth best time of her career. Congratulations to Welsh, her coach Mitch Nairn and her support team.
Sam Brown completed his busy campaign schedule in the men’s 200m backstroke, his fourth individual event of the championships. The 21-year-old swam in the fourth heat from lane eight and got away to a good start. Brown looked to find his early speed over the first 50m before he moved into eighth for the middle part of the race. He turned for home and finished ninth in his heat to claim 30th overall (1:57.04). The performance was the fourth fastest of his career, with the result marking an end to his individual programme in Budapest. Congratulations to Brown, coach Michael Weston and his support team for representing New Zealand on his first senior team this week.
Ben Littlejohn swam his second individual event of the championships in the men’s 200m freestyle. At his second consecutive World Short Course, the Harvard University senior got off to a good start from the blocks of lane two in the third heat. A line of synchronised swimmers formed over the opening 75m before the group started to make their move. The 22-year-old held consistent lap splits to move into fourth with 75m left to swim. A strong finish saw him touch fifth in the heat (1:47.01). His time was the seventh fastest of his career, with Littlejohn placing 45th in the world. Congratulations to Littlejohn, his NZ-based coach Graham Smith and his team at Harvard for his individual and relay performances across the week.
That concludes the six days of action from Budapest. Our team had some impressive performances across the week with four semi-finals, seven New Zealand open records, and three New Zealand age group records.
Other Results
Whilst not on the New Zealand team, we would like to acknowledge the following results by swimmers who swim with our clubs whilst representing other countries:
Rebecca Meder (North Shore – coached by Graham Hill – 57.20 breaststroke split) representing South Africa (3:57.68) in women’s 4 x 100m medley relay
You can find all the results from the championships on the World Aquatics website and a summary of our Kiwi swimmer's results below.
Swimmer Results
Sam Brown
Club: Coast
Coach: Michael Weston
100m Individual Medley (Result: 54.50 - 22nd)
200m Individual Medley (Result: 1:59.55 - 34th)
400m Individual Medley (Result: 4:12.33 - 23rd)
200m Backstroke (Result: 1:57.04 - 30th)
Men's 4 x 100m Medley Relay (Result: 3:32.68 - 22nd)
Brearna Crawford
Club: Waitakere
Coach: Paul Kent
50m Breaststroke (Result: 31.20 - 41st)
100m Breaststroke (Result: 1:07.10 - 34th)
Mixed 4 x 100m Medley Relay (Result: 3:45.00 - 18th in NZR)
Women's 4 x 100m Medley Relay (Result: 3:57.02 - 12th in NZR)
Chris Elson
Club: Vikings
Coach: Todd Mason
50m Butterfly (Result: 23.23 - 38th in PB)
100m Butterfly (Result: 53.16 - 47th)
Helena Gasson
Club: Coast
Coach: Michael Weston
50m Butterfly (Result: 25.39 in heat, 25.24 in semi-final - NZR and 11th)
100m Backstroke (Result: 57.43 in heat - NZR, 57.64 in semi-final - 15th)
100m Individual Medley (Result: 59.14 in heat, 58.70 in semi-final - 11th)
Women's 4 x 100m Medley Relay (Result: 3:57.02 - 12th in NZR)
100m Backstroke (Relay Lead Off Result: 57.04 - NZR)
Emma Godwin
Club: Heretaunga Sundevils
Coach: Willy Benson
200m Backstroke (Result: 2:06.96 - 20th)
Mixed 4 x 50m Freestyle Relay (Result: 1:32.74 - 16th)
Larn Hamblyn-Ough
Club: Coast
Coach: Michael Weston
800m Freestyle (Result: 8:06.19 - 34th)
1500m Freestyle (Result: 15:20.84 - 22nd in PB)
Jack Hendy
Club: Club 37
Coach: Sander Ganzevles
50m Freestyle (Result: 22.18 - 48th)
Mixed 4 x 50m Freestyle Relay (Result: 1:32.74 - 16th)
Ben Littlejohn
Club: St Paul's
Coach: Graham Smith
200m Freestyle (Result: 1:47.01 - 45th)
400m Freestyle (Result: 3:47.53 - 27th in PB)
Mixed 4 x 100m Medley Relay (Result: 3:45.00 - 18th in NZR)
Men's 4 x 100m Medley Relay (Result: 3:32.68 - 22nd)
Savannah-Eve Martin
Club: Coast
Coach: Michael Weston
50m Backstroke (Result: 26.98 - 20th in 18 Years NZR and PB)
Gina McCarthy
Club: Hamilton Aquatics
Training Squad: RPC Waikato
Coach: Mat Woofe
200m Individual Medley (Result: 2:14.14 - 25th)
400m Individual Medley (Result: 4:41.85 - 21st)
Cooper Morley
Club: North Shore
Coach: Graham Hill
50m Backstroke (Result: 23.84 - 21st in PB)
100m Backstroke (Result: 51.14 - 20th in PB)
Mixed 4 x 100m Medley Relay (Result: 3:45.00 - 18th in NZR)
Men's 4 x 100m Medley Relay (Result: 3:32.68 - 22nd)
Hazel Ouwehand
Club: Phoenix Aquatics
Coach: David Lyles
50m Butterfly (Result: 26.04 - 24th)
100m Butterfly (Result: 56.97 in heat - NZR, 56.60 in semi-final - 14th and NZR)
Women's 4 x 100m Medley Relay (Result: 3:57.02 - 12th in NZR)
Zoe Pedersen
Club: Coast
Coach: John Gatfield
50m Freestyle (Result: 24.80 - 31st in 17 Years NZR and PB)
100m Freestyle (Result: 53.86 - 31st in 17 Years NZR and PB)
Mixed 4 x 100m Medley Relay (Result: 3:45.00 - 18th in NZR)
Mixed 4 x 50m Freestyle Relay (Result: 1:32.74 - 16th)
Women's 4 x 100m Medley Relay (Result: 3:57.02 - 12th in NZR)
Zyleika Pratt-Smith
Club: Coast
Coach: Michael Weston
200m Breaststroke (Result: 2:25.63 - 26th)
Neve Tassicker
Club: Ngā Tai Tūātea a Taraika
Coach: David Lush
200m Butterfly (Result: 2:12.99 - 23rd)
Eve Thomas
Club: Coast
Coach: Michael Weston
400m Freestyle (Result: 4:06.27 - 16th)
800m Freestyle (Result: 8:22.27 - 10th in PB)
1500m Freestyle (Result: 15:56.27 - 13th in PB)
Jesse Welsh
Club: Club 37
Coach: Mitch Nairn
200m Freestyle (Result: 2:01.61 - 29th)
Hugo Wrathall
Club: Jasi
Coach: Peter Burgon
100m Freestyle (Result: 49.39 - 55th)
Mixed 4 x 50m Freestyle Relay (Result: 1:32.74 - 16th)
Men's 4 x 100m Medley Relay (Result: 3:32.68 - 22nd)
Team
the full team list for the 2024 World Aquatics Swimming Championships (25m) below:
Name | Club | Coach |
Sam Brown | Coast | Michael Weston |
Brearna Crawford | Waitakere | Paul Kent |
Chris Elson | Vikings | Todd Mason & Roly Crichton |
Helena Gasson | Coast | Michael Weston |
Emma Godwin | Heretaunga Sundevils | Willy Benson |
Larn Hamblyn-Ough | Coast | Michael Weston |
Jack Hendy | Club 37 | Sander Ganzevles |
Ben Littlejohn | St Paul's | Graham Smith |
Savannah-Eve Martin | Coast | Michael Weston |
Gina McCarthy | Hamilton Aquatics & RPC Waikato | Mat Woofe |
Cooper Morley | North Shore | Graham Hill |
Hazel Ouwehand | Phoenix Aquatics | David Lyles |
Zoe Pedersen | Coast | John Gatfield |
Zyleika Pratt-Smith | Coast | Michael Weston |
Neve Tassicker | Ngā Tai Tūātea a Taraika | David Lush |
Eve Thomas | Coast | Michael Weston |
Jesse Welsh | Club 37 | Mitch Nairn |
Hugo Wrathall | Jasi | Peter Burgon |
Name | Club | Position |
Michael Weston | Coast | Head Coach |
John Gatfield | Coast | Coach |
Willy Benson | Heretaunga Sundevils | Coach |
Toni Bayliffe | Phoenix Aquatics | Team Manager |
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