Erika Fairweather. Photo: www.photosport.nz
Olympians Lewis Clareburt and Erika Fairweather headline an eight strong New Zealand squad competing at the World Aquatic champs which start in Doha this weekend.
The 20-year-old Fairweather won bronze in the 400m freestyle at last year's World Championships and heads into this year's event as the number one ranked athlete in the distance, with a number of international competitors opting to miss the event as they focus on Olympic preparation.
"We've had a great training block and the team's feeling good to go so we're looking forward to getting in the pool and showing what we're capable of," said Fairweather.
Fairweather will also contest the 200m freestyle, 800m freestyle and 4 x 200m relay.
Clareburt is the other World Championships medallist in the squad, having won bronze in the 400m individual medley in 2019.
Lewis Clareburt. Photo: Photosport
Clareburt will also compete in the 200m IM and 200m butterfly.
Adding further experience to the team is Andrew Jeffcoat, who'll contest the 200m, 100m and 50m backstroke.
The Auckland swimmer will be looking to build on last year's efforts where he made the final in the 50m event.
Eve Thomas will swim the 400m, 800m and 1500m freestyle as well as the 4x200m freestyle relay.
She'll be joined by Caitlin Deans in the 1500m freestyle.
Cameron Gray will contest the 100m and 50m freestyle as well as the 100m and 50m Butterfly.
Rounding out the squad is Summer Osborne and Laticia-Leigh Transomwho will be members of the 4x200m freestyle relay.
The Doha event is also a qualification event for the Paris Olympics, with athletes required to swim under the qualification times to qualify a spot.
"Swimmer for swimmer, this will be one of the strongest squads we've taken away in a long time," said Swimming NZ's Olympic Programme Lead, Gary Francis.
"Everyone in this team will have ambitions to make semis and finals here in Doha and we're really looking forward to the opportunity to test ourselves."
Francis said although some international athletes have opted not to attend the event, Swimming New Zealand feels it wills till provide a strong test ahead of the Paris Games.
