Records & World Qualifiers Spark Day Three Excitement in Hawke’s Bay

Day Three Wrap - 2025 Apollo Projects NZ Age Group Swimming Championships

Day three was another jam-packed day of racing at the 2025 Apollo Projects NZ Age Group Swimming Championships at the Hawke’s Bay Regional Aquatic Centre, with Ariel Muchirahondo and Rylee Sayer earning more qualifying times for the World Aquatics Junior Swimming Championships and World Para Swimming Championships, respectively, and eight New Zealand records broken.

Results

Sixteen-year-old Rotorua star Ariel Muchirahondo turned up the heat with more brilliant performances on the third day of the Apollo Projects NZ Age Group Swimming Championships in Hawke’s Bay.

Muchirahondo secured another two qualifying performances for the upcoming World Aquatics Junior Swimming Championships to be held in Romania in August.

After qualifying in a record-breaking effort in the 400m individual medley on day two, the Rotorua swimmer added qualifying swims en route to winning the 16 years 400m freestyle and the 100m backstroke on night three of finals in Hawke’s Bay.

He was nearly a second under the world qualifying time with his win in the 400m freestyle in 3:58.60, with a big second half swim. The Aidan Withington-coached swimmer had a tighter battle in winning the 16 years 100m backstroke in 56.63s to be 0.03s inside the qualifying time for the worlds and only 0.25s off Corey Main’s long-standing national age record.

Muchirahondo spoke on the achievement:

“That means a lot to me. It’s good to qualify in lots of different strokes. For sure I am really happy with that. It is great to have the crowd supporting me and makes me feel like I am doing something right and on-track.”

In other age groups of the men’s 400m freestyle, Leo English (Swim Rotorua) prevailed in the 15 years in 4:07.05, while Grayson Coulter (North Shore) took out the 13 years with his time of 4:08.49 the third fastest overall and a new national age record.

Age winners in the women’s 400m freestyle included Ariella Riley (Hamilton Aquatics) in the 16 years in 4:31.66; Paige Conley (Whanganui) in 4:35.34 in 15 years and Tandia Fisher (Wharenui) in the 14 years, who went 4:36.41 to be the fourth fastest overall.

The multiclass honours went to Quinn Pike (Hamilton Aquatics) on the women’s side and Thomas Magill (Papamoa) on the men’s side, with the latter resetting the New Zealand 16 & under S19 record twice over the course of the day.

Phoenix Aquatics swimmer Michael Yang bagged a New Zealand age record in winning the 13 boys 200m breaststroke in an impressive time of 2:25.85.

Taking over two seconds off his own New Zealand age record, Yang said:

“I didn’t think I was going to go that fast but I was pleased I did!”

The 14 years title went to Jaiah Otene (Stratford Flyers) with a late burst in a new personal best of 2:23.64, while Lucas Bell (Tasman) took out the 15 years win and Rylind Wheeler (North Canterbury) prevailed in the 16 years age group.

There were some exciting swims in the 100m backstroke finals, with Wanaka’s Hana Carnie winning the 13 years final in 1:05.66, after she was fastest of all ages in qualifying. Alanna Rawson (St Peters) added to her collection of national titles in the 14 years age group; while Laura Menzies (Wharenui) backed up her 200m backstroke win on night two with victory in the 15 years in 1:04.42. Bridie Quayle (Wharenui) took out the 16 years after winning the 200m the previous day while fellow Cantabrian Charlotte Murphy (Aquagym) claimed the women’s multiclass honours.

In the men’s finals, James Zhang (Parnell) had a stellar finish to win the 13 years in 1:03.10 while national record holder Te Paki (Northwave) was a fraction outside his mark in winning the 14 years final, after breaking the 200m backstroke record earlier in the competition.

Lucas Bell (Tasman) backed up his 200m breaststroke win with the 15 years 100m backstroke title in a tight battle with Sebastian Seggers (United).

The men’s multiclass honours went to Nathaniel Wood (Porirua City Aquatics).

The 50m butterfly titles went to Sophia McClintock (Wanaka) in the 13 years; Alanna Rawson (St Peters) scored her second win of the night in the 14 years; Madeline Wilson (Swim Zone Racing) prevailed in the 15 years; and Millie Bell (North Canterbury) in the 16 years.

Matamata’s Riley Sayer earned another qualification time for the World Para Swimming Championships with a 37.94 effort, while Charlotte Murphy (Aquagym) emerged with a national record in the S6 50m butterfly, taking down Jenny Newstead’s longstanding mark.

Rylee Sayer reflected on achieving her second qualifying time for the World Para Swimming Championships:

“I’m out of words! I’m so grateful to have a second chance in life and I’m taking everything out of it so I can be here right now. Qualifying for worlds is such an achievement for me and I’m so grateful.”

Grayson Coulter (North Shore) continued his gold medal streak in the 13 years 50m butterfly, bettering his own national record two times over the day. Will Atkinson (Blenheim) took the win in a tight battle in 14 years; Sam Skidmore (Trojans) backed up his 100m win in 15 years and Neo Salomonsson (Kiwi ASC) also made it a 50m-100m double in the 16 years.

The men’s multiclass honours went to Thomas Magill (Papamoa), who backed up from his 400m freestyle win earlier in the evening.

Parnell continued their streak of relay podiums, taking out the men’s 13-14 years 4x50m medley relay, while North Shore topped the podium ahead of a tight tussle between Wanaka and Wharenui on the women’s side. With less than half a second separating the top three in the women’s 16 & under relay, Phoenix Aquatics edged out North Canterbury and Club 37 for gold. North Shore was victorious in the men’s 16 & under event, with anchor Michael Brady holding off a fast finishing Osbert Gu (Phoenix Aquatics).

Congratulations to all the swimmers who won medals, made finals and achieved personal bests across the third day of racing in Hawke’s Bay. We look forward to the action on day four, with the heats coverage starting from 8.25am and finals coverage from 4.50pm.

Day Four Overview - Wednesday 16 April

Heats livestream coverage from 8.25am

Finals livestream coverage from 4.50pm

200m butterfly
100m breaststroke
200m freestyle
4 x 100m freestyle relay

You can stay up-to-date across the championships across our social and digital channels of Facebook, Instagram, our website and via the livestream brought to you by Whakaata Maori. There are limited tickets still available for some sessions if you'd like to have the best seat in the house and watch from poolside. Please find the useful links to some of these digital platforms below:

Purchase Spectator Tickets

Watch Livestream

Programme & Results

Team Selection Opportunities

In addition to aspiring for the national age title, some swimmers will be setting their eyes on achieving qualifying times for New Zealand teams selected for upcoming international competition later in the year. The championships offer opportunities for swimmers to qualify for are:

2025 Tri Series (Ballarat, Australia, from 7 - 12 July)
2025 World Aquatics Junior Swimming Championships (Romania from 19 - 24 August)
2025 World Para Swimming Championships (Singapore from 21 - 27 September)

View Selection Criteria

Day Five - Thursday 17 April