Day One Wrap – 2024 World Aquatics Swimming Championships (25m) - Budapest, Hungary
Helena Gasson (Coast) was the star for New Zealand on the first day of racing in Budapest, breaking two New Zealand Records across her two events and making the semi-finals in both. Gasson helped lead the team to five personal bests from nine events, marking a strong start to our campaign at the 2024 World Aquatics Swimming Championships (25m).
It wasn’t just the Kiwis laying down personal best times however, with seven World Records set on the opening day demonstrating that the swimmers are primed and the pool is fast.
Gasson started her heats session with the women’s 100m backstroke, where she executed her trademark underwater skills to post a personal best time (57.43) and shave 0.25 seconds off her NZ Record to touch third in her heat. The performance saw her progress to the semi-finals as the 15th fastest qualifier.
A short while later, Gasson returned in the women’s 50m butterfly alongside Paris Olympian Hazel Ouwehand (Phoenix Aquatics). Gasson exploded from the start and looked strong throughout to finish 0.01 outside of her personal best, touching third in the heat (25.39). Ouwehand was further back from the outset to finish ninth in the heat (26.04), marking the third fastest performance of her career. Gasson progressed through to the semi-final as the ninth fastest qualifier, with Ouwehand finishing 24th overall. Congratulations to Ouwehand, her coach David Lyles and her support team for her performance, she will return on day four in the women’s 100m butterfly.
In the finals session, the order of races was swapped so Gasson took on the women’s 50m butterfly semi-final first. Gasson worked the underwater off the turn to move into fifth in her semi-final, going faster than the heat to set her second personal best of the day (25.24) and break her NZ Record in the process. Gretchen Walsh (USA – 23.94) won the semi-final, breaking the World Record for the second time that day and progressing as the fastest into the final. Gasson narrowly missed out on qualifying for the final, taking 11th place overall.
Gasson returned for the women’s 100m backstroke semi-final about 40 minutes later. Getting away quickly from the start, Gasson swam well from lane eight to produce the second fastest time of her career (57.64) and finish eighth in the second semi-final. World Record holder Regan Smith (USA – 55.05) progressed through to the final as the fastest qualifier. Gasson rounded out her backstroke event 15th overall, improving upon her seeding of 17th coming into the championships.
Gasson was really happy with her performances.
“Today I found an inner peace which came from being here and being proud of myself. It was great to be able to lead by example for our team, but to be here for myself gave me a calmness I have never experienced before. I’m really proud to be on this New Zealand team.”
Congratulations to Gasson, her coach Michael Weston and her support team for her impressive performances. Gasson will be back in action on day three for the women’s 100m individual medley.
Eve Thomas (Coast) returned to the competition pool after representing New Zealand at her second Olympic Games in Paris. Thomas swam the shortest event on her programme this week, the women’s 400m freestyle. Swimming in the fourth of five heats, Thomas got into her rhythm over the first 50m. Thomas was sixth at the halfway point, before Mary-Sophie Harvey (Canada) flew past to motor her way to a heat win (4:00.04). Thomas rounded out her swim with eighth in the heat (4:06.27) to place 16th overall.
In the evening final, Summer McIntosh (Canada) kick started the finals session with a scintillating World Record (3:50.25), smashing Li Bingjie’s previous mark to claim the gold medal ahead of reigning champion Lani Pallister (Australia – 3:53.73) and Mary-Sophie Harvey (3:54.88).
Congratulations to Thomas, her coach Michael Weston and support team on her first swim of the meet, she returns to the pool tomorrow for the women’s 800m freestyle.
Cooper Morley (North Shore) made his senior international debut in the men’s 100m backstroke. Morley got off to a strong start in the final heat, slashing half a second off his personal best time to finish in 51.14. Morley placed 20th overall, marking an impressive debut at his first World Aquatics competition.
Congratulations to Morley, his coach and support team at North Shore and Pennsylvania State University on his performance. Morley will return to the pool for the men’s 50m backstroke on day three.
Larn Hamblyn-Ough (Coast) continued his busy past 18 months of building international experience, taking on the men’s 1500m freestyle on his senior debut. Swimming in the first of three timed finals, Hamblyn-Ough started well to lead at the first turn before settling into his pacing in the opening half of the race. Swimming alongside the bulk of his fellow competitors through the opening portion, Hamblyn-Ough started to move ahead of the pack and into third in the final 500m of the race, before a sprint over the final 100m saw him touch fourth in the timed final. It was a personal best performance for the 19-year-old (15:20.84), placing 22nd overall as he continues to showcase his development over the distance events. 19-year-old Ahmed Jaouadi (Tunisia – 14:16.40) shocked himself when he won the gold medal ahead of World Record holder Florian Wellbrock (Germany – 14:17.27) and Kuzey Tuncelli (Turkey – 14:20.64) who set a World Junior Record alongside his bronze medal.
Congratulations to Hamblyn-Ough, coach Michael Weston and his support team on his first performance on a senior team. He will return for the men’s 800m freestyle on day five.
At 26 years old, Chris Elson (Vikings) made his debut at a World Aquatics competition in the men’s 50m butterfly. Elson delivered a personal best performance on the big stage (23.23), touching seventh in his heat to place 38th overall. In the same event, the Championship Record was broken twice in the following heats, before Noe Ponti (Switzerland – 21.43) improved his World Record in the semi-final.
Congratulations to Elson, his coach Todd Mason and his support team on this performance. He returns to action on day five for the men’s 100m butterfly.
Gina McCarthy (Hamilton Aquatics & RPC Waikato) returned for her second World Aquatics Swimming Championships (25m), opening her campaign with the women’s 200m individual medley. Racing in the final heat, Kate Douglass (USA – 2:06.08), Rebecca Meder (South Africa – 2:06.15) and Emma Carrasco (Spain – 2:06.42) set the pace early, while McCarthy built through each of the strokes to produce the seventh best time of her career en route to placing 25th overall (2:14.14). Kate Douglass (2:01.63) went on to beat Katinka Hosszu’s World Record in the final, with Alex Walsh (USA – 2:02.65) and Abbie Wood (Great Britain – 2:02.75) rounding out the podium.
Congratulations to McCarthy, her coach Mat Woofe and her support team for her performance on the opening day. She will be back in action for the women’s 400m individual medley on day five.
Sam Brown (Coast) commenced his busy week of races with the men’s 200m individual medley. Racing in the same heat as Daiya Seto (Japan – 1:53.20), Brown worked into the race as he achieved the fourth best time of his career (1:59.55) to touch eighth in his heat and place 34th overall. In the final, Shaine Casas (USA – 1:49.51) blitzed the field to challenge Leon Marchand’s World Record line en route to breaking Ryan Lochte's long-standing Championship Record and claiming gold ahead of Alberto Razzetti (Italy – 1:50.88) and Finlay Knox (Canada – 1:50.90).
Congratulations to Brown, his coach Michael Weston and his support team for his performance on debut. He will return on day three for the men’s 100m individual medley.
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 (South Africa & North Shore - coached by Graham Hill) - sixth in women’s 200m individual medley (2:05.61 – African Record)
Kokoro Frost (Samoa & Otaki Titans - coached by Jon Winter) - 51st in men’s 50m butterfly (24.25)
Eyad Masoud (United - coached by Andy McMillan) - 59th in men’s 50m butterfly (24.98)
Mia Laban (Cook Islands & Howick Pakuranga) - 55th in women’s 100m backstroke (1:04.96)
Paige Schendelaar-Kemp (Samoa & Pukekohe - coached by Sheldon Kemp) - 36th in women’s 50m butterfly (27.20)
Day Two Preview
Heats (from 9pm NZDT – Wednesday 11 December)
Women's 100m Freestyle (Pedersen)
Men's 100m Freestyle (Wrathall)
Women's 100m Breaststroke (Crawford)
Women's 800m Freestyle Timed Final (Thomas)
Potential Finals Swims (from 5.30am NZDT – Thursday 12 December)
Women's 100m Freestyle Semi-Final (Pedersen) - 5.48am
Men's 100m Freestyle Semi-Final (Wrathall) - 5.58am
Women's 100m Breaststroke Semi-Final (Crawford) - 6.13am
Four swimmers will be in action on day two with three of them debutants at this level. Eve Thomas will return for the women's 800m freestyle timed final where she enters with the 14th fastest entry time from her long course races earlier in the year. Teammate Zoe Pedersen (Coast) is stepping up to make her senior debut in the women's 100m freestyle after impressive performances at the 2024 Junior Pan Pacific Championships earlier this year. Hugo Wrathall (Jasi) will aim to build upon his form from the World Aquatics Swimming World Cup as he tackles the men's 100m freestyle. Brearna Crawford (Waitakere) will bring her experience of racing short course yards at college to the women's 100m breaststroke also.
The heats session will start at 9pm NZDT, with finals sessions due to start at 5.30am NZDT the following morning.
You can watch the livestream through the World Aquatics Recast platform by purchasing access from the link below.
Stay up-to-date with all of the action and latest results in Budapest via our Swimming NZ social media channels. Check out our preview of our Kiwis in action each day below.
Day Three
Heats (from 9pm NZDT - Thursday 12 December)
Women's 50m Backstroke (Martin)
Men's 50m Backstroke (Morley)
Women's 200m Butterfly (Tassicker)
Women's 100m Individual Medley (Gasson)
Men's 100m Individual Medley (Brown)
Men's 400m Freestyle (Littlejohn)
Potential Finals Swims (from 5.30am NZDT – Friday 13 December)
Women's 100m Freestyle Final (Pedersen) - 5.32am
Men's 100m Freestyle Final (Wrathall) - 5.40am
Women's 50m Backstroke Semi-Final (Martin) - 5.48am
Men's 50m Backstroke Semi-Final (Morley) - 5.57am
Women's 200m Butterfly Final (Tassicker) - 6.06am
Women's 100m Breaststroke Final (Crawford) - 6.30am
Women's 100m Individual Medley Semi-Final (Gasson) - 6.52am
Men's 100m Individual Medley Semi-Final (Brown) - 7.02am
Men's 400m Freestyle Final (Littlejohn) - 7.13am
Helena Gasson will commence her final individual event on the third day of racing, returning to the women's 100m individual medley, where she is ranked 15th fastest on entries. Sam Brown will contest his second event of the week in the men's race.
Savannah-Eve Martin will be looking to use her fast starts to her advantage in the women's 50m backstroke coming into Budapest with the 17th fastest time, while Cooper Morley returns for his second and final event of the week in the men's race.
Neve Tassicker will be looking to make her mark in the women's 200m butterfly as she debuts at World Aquatics level, before Ben Littlejohn returns to his second consecutive World Short Course by racing the men's 400m freestyle.
Day Four
Heats (from 9pm NZDT – Friday 13 December)
Mixed 4 x 50m Freestyle Relay
Women's 200m Breaststroke (Pratt-Smith)
Women's 100m Butterfly (Ouwehand)
Men's 100m Butterfly (Elson)
Women's 1500m Freestyle Timed Final (Thomas)
Potential Finals Swims (from 5.30am NZDT – Saturday 14 December)
Mixed 4 x 50m Freestyle Relay Final - 5.32am
Women's 200m Breaststroke Final (Pratt-Smith) - 5.40am
Women's 50m Backstroke Final (Martin) - 6.04am
Men's 50m Backstroke Final (Morley) - 6.12am
Women's 100m Butterfly Semi-Final (Ouwehand) - 6.20am
Men's 100m Butterfly Semi-Final (Elson) - 6.35am
Women's 100m Individual Medley Final (Gasson) - 6.51am
Men's 100m Individual Medley Final (Brown) - 6.59am
The sessions sets to start with a bang, with our first relay team of the week set to take on the mixed 4 x 50m freestyle.
Eve Thomas returns for her third and final event of the week when she takes on the women's 1500m freestyle, ranked 15th from her long course time.
Hazel Ouwehand enters the women's 100m butterfly with the 18th fastest time, before Chris Elson takes on the men's event.
Zyleika Pratt-Smith will make her senior debut in the women's 200m breaststroke.
Day Five
Heats (from 9pm NZDT – Saturday 14 December)
Women's 400m Individual Medley (McCarthy)
Men's 400m Individual Medley (Brown)
Women's 50m Freestyle (Pedersen)
Men's 50m Freestyle (Hendy)
Women's 50m Breaststroke (Crawford)
Men's 800m Freestyle Timed Final (Hamblyn-Ough)
Mixed 4 x 100m Medley Relay
Potential Finals Swims (from 5.30am NZDT – Sunday 15 December)
Women's 100m Butterfly Final (Ouwehand) - 5.32am
Men's 100m Butterfly Final (Elson) - 5.40am
Women's 50m Breaststroke Semi-Final (Crawford) - 5.48am
Women's 50m Freestyle Semi-Final (Pedersen) - 6.12am
Men's 50m Freestyle Semii-Final (Hendy) - 6.21am)
Women's 400m Individual Medley Final (McCarthy) - 6.30am
Men's 400m Individual Medley Final (Brown) - 6.42am
Mixed 4 x 100m Medley Relay Final - 7.14am
Gina McCarthy and Sam Brown return for the longest of the individual medley events, the 400m.
Zoe Pedersen will be back in action for the women's 50m freestyle, with Jack Hendy taking on the men's event.
Brearna Crawford returns for the shorter women's 50m breaststroke, before Larn Hamblyn-Ough races his other event of the week in the men's 800m freestyle timed final.
Day five heats will wrap up with the mixed 4 x 100m medley relay.
Day Six
Heats (from 9pm NZDT – Sunday 15 December)
Women's 200m Freestyle (Welsh)
Men's 200m Freestyle (Littlejohn)
Women's 200m Backstroke (Godwin)
Men's 200m Backstroke (Brown)
Women's 4 x 100m Medley Relay
Men's 4 x 100m Medley Relay
Potential Finals Swims (from 5.30am NZDT – Monday 16 December)
Women's 50m Freestyle Final (Pedersen) - 5.32am
Men's 50m Freestyle Final (Hendy) - 5.39am
Women's 50m Breaststroke Final (Crawford) - 5.47am
Women's 200m Backstroke Final (Godwin) - 6.02am
Men's 200m Backstroke Final (Brown) - 6.12am
Women's 200m Freestyle Final (Welsh) - 6.26am
Men's 200m Freestyle Final (Littlejohn) - 6.40am
Women's 4 x 100m Medley Relay Final - 6.54am
Men's 4 x 100m Medley Relay Final - 7.10am
Jesse Welsh will have to wait to the final day to make her debut in the women's 200m freestyle, while Ben Littlejohn will drop down to the men's 200m freestyle for his second event of the championships.
Emma Godwin also needed to wait until the last day for her preferred women's 200m backstroke, before Sam Brown rounds out his busy schedule in the men's event.
The last events for the team will be relays, with both the women and men fielding a 4 x 100m medley relay team to conclude the championships.
Swimmer Entries
Sam Brown
100m Individual Medley (Entry time: 54.08)
200m Individual Medley (Result: 1:59.55 - 34th)
400m Individual Medley (Entry time: 4:08.84)
200m Backstroke (Entry time: 1:54.17)
Brearna Crawford
50m Breaststroke (Entry time: 30.85)
100m Breaststroke (Entry time: 1:06.66)
Chris Elson
50m Butterfly (Result: 23.23 - PB and 38th)
100m Butterfly (Entry time: 53.64)
Helena Gasson
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 (Entry time: 59.53)
Emma Godwin
200m Backstroke (Entry time: 2:05.76)
Larn Hamblyn-Ough
800m Freestyle (Entry time: 7:57.76)
1500m Freestyle (Result: 15:20.84 - PB and 22nd)
Jack Hendy
50m Freestyle (Entry time: 21.89)
Ben Littlejohn
200m Freestyle (Entry time: 1:47.65)
400m Freestyle (Entry time: 3:50.35)
Savannah-Eve Martin
50m Backstroke (Entry time: 27.11)
Gina McCarthy
200m Individual Medley (Result: 2:14.14 - 25th)
400m Individual Medley (Entry time: 4:40.43)
Cooper Morley
50m Backstroke (Entry time: 23.84)
100m Backstroke (Result: 51.14 - PB)
Hazel Ouwehand
50m Butterfly (Result: 26.04 - 24th)
100m Butterfly (Entry time: 57.43)
Zoe Pedersen
50m Freestyle (Entry time: 25.35)
100m Freestyle (Entry time: 55.43)
Zyleika Pratt-Smith
200m Breaststroke (Entry time: 2:23.81)
Neve Tassicker
200m Butterfly (Entry time: 2:12.24)
Eve Thomas
400m Freestyle (Result: 4:06.27 - 16th)
800m Freestyle (Entry time: 8:22.27)
1500m Freestyle (Entry time: 16:07.46)
Jesse Welsh
200m Freestyle (Entry time: 1:59.63)
Hugo Wrathall
100m Freestyle (Entry time: 48.52)
Daily Schedule
*start times are subject to change, while semi-finals and finals are subject to athlete progression.
Wednesday 11 December
Day Two Heats – from 9pm NZDT
Women's 100m Freestyle (Pedersen)
Men's 100m Freestyle (Wrathall)
Women's 100m Breaststroke (Crawford)
Women's 800m Freestyle Timed Final (Thomas)
Thursday 12 December
Day Two Finals – from 5.30am NZDT
Women's 100m Freestyle Semi-Final (Pedersen*) - 5.48am
Men's 100m Freestyle Semi-Final (Wrathall*) - 5.58am
Women's 100m Breaststroke Semi-Final (Crawford*) - 6.13am
Day Three Heats - from 9pm NZDT
Women's 50m Backstroke (Martin)
Men's 50m Backstroke (Morley)
Women's 200m Butterfly (Tassicker)
Women's 100m Individual Medley (Gasson)
Men's 100m Individual Medley (Brown)
Men's 400m Freestyle (Littlejohn)
Friday 13 December
Day Three Finals – from 5.30am NZDT
Women's 100m Freestyle Final (Pedersen*) - 5.32am
Men's 100m Freestyle Final (Wrathall*) - 5.40am
Women's 50m Backstroke Semi-Final (Martin*) - 5.48am
Men's 50m Backstroke Semi-Final (Morley*) - 5.57am
Women's 200m Butterfly Final (Tassicker*) - 6.06am
Women's 100m Breaststroke Final (Crawford*) - 6.30am
Women's 100m Individual Medley Semi-Final (Gasson*) - 6.52am
Men's 100m Individual Medley Semi-Final (Brown*) - 7.02am
Men's 400m Freestyle Final (Littlejohn*) - 7.13am
Day Four Heats – from 9pm NZDT
Mixed 4 x 50m Freestyle Relay
Women's 200m Breaststroke (Pratt-Smith)
Women's 100m Butterfly (Ouwehand)
Men's 100m Butterfly (Elson)
Women's 1500m Freestyle Timed Final (Thomas)
Saturday 14 December
Day Four Finals – from 5.30am NZDT
Mixed 4 x 50m Freestyle Relay Final* - 5.32am
Women's 200m Breaststroke Final (Pratt-Smith*) - 5.40am
Women's 50m Backstroke Final (Martin*) - 6.04am
Men's 50m Backstroke Final (Morley*) - 6.12am
Women's 100m Butterfly Semi-Final (Ouwehand*) - 6.20am
Men's 100m Butterfly Semi-Final (Elson*) - 6.35am
Women's 100m Individual Medley Final (Gasson*) - 6.51am
Men's 100m Individual Medley Final (Brown*) - 6.59am
Day Five Heats – from 9pm NZDT
Women's 400m Individual Medley (McCarthy)
Men's 400m Individual Medley (Brown)
Women's 50m Freestyle (Pedersen)
Men's 50m Freestyle (Hendy)
Women's 50m Breaststroke (Crawford)
Men's 800m Freestyle Timed Final (Hamblyn-Ough)
Mixed 4 x 100m Medley Relay
Sunday 15 December
Day Five Finals – from 5.30am NZDT
Women's 100m Butterfly Final (Ouwehand*) - 5.32am
Men's 100m Butterfly Final (Elson*) - 5.40am
Women's 50m Breaststroke Semi-Final (Crawford*) - 5.48am
Women's 50m Freestyle Semi-Final (Pedersen*) - 6.12am
Men's 50m Freestyle Semii-Final (Hendy*) - 6.21am)
Women's 400m Individual Medley Final (McCarthy*) - 6.30am
Men's 400m Individual Medley Final (Brown*) - 6.42am
Mixed 4 x 100m Medley Relay Final* - 7.14am
Day Six Heats – from 9pm NZDT
Women's 200m Freestyle (Welsh)
Men's 200m Freestyle (Littlejohn)
Women's 200m Backstroke (Godwin)
Men's 200m Backstroke (Brown)
Women's 4 x 100m Medley Relay
Men's 4 x 100m Medley Relay
Monday 16 December
Day Six Finals – from 5.30am NZDT
Women's 50m Freestyle Final (Pedersen*) - 5.32am
Men's 50m Freestyle Final (Hendy*) - 5.39am
Women's 50m Breaststroke Final (Crawford*) - 5.47am
Women's 200m Backstroke Final (Godwin*) - 6.02am
Men's 200m Backstroke Final (Brown*) - 6.12am
Women's 200m Freestyle Final (Welsh*) - 6.26am
Men's 200m Freestyle Final (Littlejohn*) - 6.40am
Women's 4 x 100m Medley Relay Final* - 6.54am
Men's 4 x 100m Medley Relay Final* - 7.10am
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