Day Five Wrap – 2024 World Aquatics Swimming Championships (25m) - Budapest, Hungary
Zoe Pedersen (Coast) was the star of day five with the 17-year-old re-writing two New Zealand Records in the same session in Budapest. Pedersen broke the 17 Years New Zealand Age Record with a personal best in the women’s 50m freestyle, before anchoring the mixed 4 x 100m medley relay team to another New Zealand Record at the end of the session alongside Cooper Morley (North Shore), Brearna Crawford (Waitakere) and Ben Littlejohn (St Paul’s).
Pedersen continued her excellent form at these championships with her second 17 Years New Zealand Age Record, this time in the women’s 50m freestyle. From lane eight of the seventh heat, Pedersen was fifth at the turn and motored home to touch in a three-way tie for third (24.80). The time marked a significant personal best, with Pedersen going 0.42 seconds faster than her previous best time set at the 2024 NZ Secondary School Swimming Championships in Auckland earlier this year. The time also overtook Aquablack Laura Littlejohn’s age record set three years ago at the same championships in Abu Dhabi by 0.07 seconds. Pedersen finished equalled 31st overall, rounding out her individual events of the championships with two New Zealand Age Records from two swims. Congratulations to Pedersen, coach John Gatfield and her support team for her individual performances and continual development across the year.
The mixed 4 x 100m medley relay also provided some exciting action on day five. Cooper Morley had the lead off responsibilities with the backstroke leg, where he got the team off to a great start. Morley (51.76 split) produced the fourth fastest effort of his career to handover to Brearna Crawford in sixth. Crawford (1:07.70 split) was up against many male competitors, taking on her second swim of the session to touch eighth. Ben Littlejohn (52.14 split) swam the butterfly leg and took some water away from the leaders to have the team seventh at the final transition. Zoe Pedersen (53.40 split) produced a rapid split to have the team touch eighth on the wall. The result (3:45.00) broke the New Zealand Record set by Coast at the 2024 Apollo Projects NZ Short Course Swimming Championships earlier this year to place the team 18th overall. Congratulations to each of the swimmers, their coaches and support teams on their New Zealand Record-breaking performance in Budapest.
Gina McCarthy (Hamilton Aquatics & RPC Waikato) was back in action, taking on the women’s 400m individual medley. Racing against a classy field including Canadian superstar Summer McIntosh, McCarthy swam from lane nine of the third heat where she got off to a smooth start in her butterfly leg to sit ninth at the 100m transition. She made a push in the backstroke to move up up to eighth position, with her breaststroke leg elevating her into seventh. After the freestyle leg, McCarthy touched the wall eighth in her heat (4:41.85). The result was the fifth best of her career and her fastest in foreign waters, which placed her 21st overall. In the final, McIntosh obliterated the World Record by nearly 3.5 seconds to claim gold (4:15.48) ahead of Katie Grimes (4:20.14) and Abbie Wood (Great Britain - 4:24.34).
McCarthy concludes her campaign in Budapest, congratulations to McCarthy, coach Mat Woofe and her support team for her two performances at her second world short course championships.
Sam Brown (Coast) continued his busy Budapest schedule with his longest event, the men’s 400m individual medley. Brown conserved energy during the butterfly leg, before he moved up to ninth in the backstroke. Brown held his own in the breaststroke before he left everything in the pool during the freestyle leg to touch ninth (4:12.33). The result was Brown’s third best career result and the best performance outside of New Zealand. Brown finished 23rd overall and will now prepare for his final event tomorrow – the men’s 200m backstroke. Congratulations to Brown, coach Michael Weston and his support team.
Larn Hamblyn-Ough (Coast) tackled his second event in Budapest, this time in the short men’s 800m freestyle. Racing in lane six of the second timed final, Hamblyn-Ough got off to a safe start to be seventh at the 50m and sixth at the 100m mark. He found his rhythm after the 200m turn, settling into seventh place to split 4:01.54 at the halfway point of the race. In the second half of the race, Hamblyn-Ough traded places between sixth and seventh each lap as he pushed toward the finish. Hamblyn-Ough emptied the tank to finish sixth in his heat (8:06.19), notching the fourth fastest time of his career.
With the fastest timed final held in the evening session, there was a delay in confirming the final placings. With some athletes entered on long course times, the seedings didn’t necessarily mean the fastest athletes from around the world were in the same race, so the athletes not only had to race those in the lanes alongside them but also the clock. In the end, 19-year-old local Zalan Sarkany (Hungary - 7:30.56) sent the crowd into a frenzy with an inspired victory from the fastest timed final, just enough to beat the time of Florian Wellbrock (Germany - 7:31.90) who took silver ahead of Ahmed Jaouadi (Tunisia - 7:31.93).
Hamblyn-Ough took 34th place, with the 19-year-old concluding a big year with his senior international debut in Budapest. Congratulations to Hamblyn-Ough, coach Michael Weston and his support team on his performances.
Brearna Crawford returned for the final individual event of her campaign in the women’s 50m breaststroke. The Indiana University senior got off the blocks well to be ninth at the turn and tenth at the finish across the short distance (31.20). Finishing in 41st overall, her performance marked the fourth fastest of her career. Congratulations to Crawford, coach Paul Kent and her team at Indiana University for her individual performances on debut.
Jack Hendy (Club 37) had to wait until the fifth day of competition for his only individual swim of the championships, taking on the men’s 50m freestyle. After making his debut in the relay the previous day, Hendy was in lane four as the fastest swimmer on entry in the non-seeded heats. He made a good start to turn seventh at halfway before a quick underwater saw him return to the finish line in ninth (22.18). It was the fifth fastest time of his career to place him 48th overall. The fastest qualifier for the semi-final was the reigning champion, Jordan Crooks (Cayman Islands – 20.08), who blasted his way to becoming the fastest swimmer in history, usurping the World Record previously set by Caeleb Dressel (USA) four years ago. He went faster again in the semi-final to become the first swimmer to break the 20 seconds barrier in history, with a new World Record (19.90).
Congratulations to Jack Hendy, coach Sander Ganzevles and his support team.
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:
South Africa - 10th in mixed 4 x 100m medley relay (3:37.71) included Rebecca Meder (North Shore - coached by Graham Hill - 1:04.81 breaststroke split)
Samoa – 27th in mixed 4 x 100m medley relay (4:09.49) included Kokoro Frost (Otaki Titans – coached by Jon Winter – 1:07.96 breaststroke split) and Paige Schendelaar-Kemp (Pukekohe – coached by Sheldon Kemp – 1:01.91 butterfly split)
Day Six Preview
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 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 (Club 37) had 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 individual swim of the championships. Emma Godwin (Heretaunga Sundevils) also needed to wait until the last day for her only individual event where she will race 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.
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.
Swimmer Entries & Results
Sam Brown
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 (Entry time: 1:54.17)
Brearna Crawford
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)
Chris Elson
50m Butterfly (Result: 23.23 - PB and 38th)
100m Butterfly (Result: 53.16 - 47th)
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 (Result: 59.14 in heat, 58.70 in semi-final - 11th)
Emma Godwin
200m Backstroke (Entry time: 2:05.76)
Mixed 4 x 50m Freestyle Relay (Result: 1:32.74 - 16th)
Larn Hamblyn-Ough
800m Freestyle (Result: 8:06.19 - 34th)
1500m Freestyle (Result: 15:20.84 - 22nd and PB)
Jack Hendy
50m Freestyle (Result: 22.18 - 48th)
Mixed 4 x 50m Freestyle Relay (Result: 1:32.74 - 16th)
Ben Littlejohn
200m Freestyle (Entry time: 1:47.65)
400m Freestyle (Result: 3:47.53 - 27th in PB)
Mixed 4 x 100m Medley Relay (Result: 3:45.00 - 18th in NZR)
Savannah-Eve Martin
50m Backstroke (Result: 26.98 - 20th in 18 Years NZR and PB)
Gina McCarthy
200m Individual Medley (Result: 2:14.14 - 25th)
400m Individual Medley (Result: 4:41.85 - 21st)
Cooper Morley
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)
Hazel Ouwehand
50m Butterfly (Result: 26.04 - 24th)
100m Butterfly (Result: 56.97 in heat - NZR, 56.60 in semi-final - 14th and NZR)
Zoe Pedersen
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)
Zyleika Pratt-Smith
200m Breaststroke (Result: 2:25.63 - 26th)
Neve Tassicker
200m Butterfly (Result: 2:12.99 - 23rd)
Eve Thomas
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
200m Freestyle (Entry time: 1:59.63)
Hugo Wrathall
100m Freestyle (Result: 49.39 - 55th)
Mixed 4 x 50m Freestyle Relay (Result: 1:32.74 - 16th)
Daily Schedule
*start times are subject to change, while semi-finals and finals are subject to athlete progression.
Sunday 15 December
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 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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