Latest news with #CaitlinDeans
Otago Daily Times
3 days ago
- Sport
- Otago Daily Times
Deans 13th in 1500m freestyle
Caitlin Deans. PHOTO: GREGOR RICHARDSON Dunedin Olympian Caitlin Deans has made a sound start to her big week. The Neptune swimmer finished 13th overall in the women's 1500m freestyle on day two of the world championships in Singapore yesterday. She clocked 16min 13.16sec in the second heat, her fastest time on the international stage at the distance. Kiwi Eve Thomas, who was part of the 4x200m relay alongside Deans in Paris, finished 16th in 16min 28.10sec. United States great Katie Ledecky, who has been a dominant force in the distance for over 10 years, was the top qualifier for the final with 15min 36.68sec. Looking to defend her 400m freestyle title on Sunday, former Dunedin swimmer Erika Fairweather was disqualified for moving on the blocks during the heat. Canadian Summer McIntosh stormed home to win the title in 3min 56.26sec. China's Bingjie Li claimed silver in 3min 58.21sec and Ledecky took bronze in 3min 58.49sec. It was a tight battle — Olympic champion Ariarne Titmus skipping the world championships again — and the top four all went under 4min with Australian Lani Pallister coming fourth in 3min 58.87sec. Fairweather is back in the pool this afternoon in the women's 200m freestyle, alongside Milana Tapper making her Aquablacks debut. Olympian Lewis Clareburt will also get his world championships under way in the men's 200m butterfly. Semifinals for both events are scheduled for late tonight (NZ time). Deans is back in the pool on Friday, racing alongside former club-mate Fairweather in the women's 800m freestyle.
Otago Daily Times
21-07-2025
- Sport
- Otago Daily Times
Deans confident on eve of world champs
Relaxed looks good on Caitlin Deans. The Dunedin swimmer had a national championships to remember in May when she swam four personal-best times, collected four medals and shattered an Otago record. She claimed bronze in the women's freestyle 200m and 400m, silver in the 800m and gold in the 1500m, slashing nearly 6sec off the Otago record she set in April with a time of 16min 12.18sec. It punched her ticket to her fourth long-course world championships in Singapore as part of a 12-strong New Zealand team. The Paris Olympian will compete in the 800m and 1500m at the meeting which gets under way on Sunday. She also swam under the world qualifying time for the 400m but only two athletes from each country can swim in an event at the world championships. "Really excited to be heading off to my fourth world champs," Deans said. "I don't think the excitement ever dulls, no matter how many times you've been before." Heading into the national championships, Deans had no expectation of where she would finish and was taken aback by her results. "Honestly, it took me by surprise. "I didn't quite expect to be hitting the times that I did at nationals, so I think that gave me a lot of confidence leading up to this meet and confidence in getting a good training block under my belt before worlds." Maybe taking the pressure off suits the 25-year-old. "Nothing that I can think of that was any different. "Probably just more relaxed than usual, because it was my first time having a big break post-Olympics out of the water. "Not having that expectation on myself about how I was going to go probably plays a part in it." Deans made history during her first Olympic campaign. She was part of the women's 4x200m freestyle relay team in Paris alongside former Dunedin swimmer Erika Fairweather, Eve Thomas and Laticia Transom. They were the first Kiwi women's relay team to make an Olympic final, finishing eighth in a stacked field. "Going to the Olympics was pretty surreal. It's something that I've dreamed of since I was a little kid, so to actually fulfil that ... I don't think it's sunk in and I'm not sure if it ever will. "The Olympics is just something else. It's so different to anything else we do, and to experience that is something I'll be forever grateful for." That experience, alongside having raced at three previous world championships, helps the long-distance specialist as she dives into the pool. "It definitely helps and plays a big part. "The more exposure you can get to the international racing scene, the better, and it starts to normalise those big names. "Obviously having an Olympics under the belt helps with that." Working alongside experienced Dunedin coach Lars Humer also helped her development. "Lars bring with him a lot of experience. Obviously I've worked with him for a long time now, so I'm very lucky." Deans is looking forward to putting her best foot forward at the world championships and getting back to racing, not just for herself but for her support network. "I've had a lot of people support me in multiple different ways to get to this world champs, whether it's been their time, or financially, all the work that they've put in to help me get there. "I'm just hoping I can do them, and myself, really proud." Auckland-based Fairweather, the defending women's freestyle 400m world champion, will also race in Singapore, alongside Olympian Lewis Clareburt. Olympian Hazel Ouwehand qualified in the butterfly but made herself unavailable.
Otago Daily Times
26-05-2025
- Sport
- Otago Daily Times
Deans ‘absolutely stoked' to come away with all PBs
Caitlin Deans after being crowned the national 1500m freestyle champion at the national championships in Auckland. PHOTOS: SIMON WATTS / BW MEDIA What a week for Caitlin Deans. The smile plastered across her face as she looked up at her time said it all as she wrapped up what had been a phenomenal week in the pool at the national championships in Auckland. The Dunedin Olympian executed her plan to perfection and cruised to the women's 1500m freestyle title in a big personal best and Otago record of 16min 12.18sec. The Neptune swimmer was the only athlete to break the 17min mark. Olympic team-mate Eve Thomas collected silver in 17min 11.55sec and Sophie Hay secured bronze in 17min 20.72sec. It was yet another qualifying time for the world championships in Singapore for Deans — seeded at 16min 17.40sec heading into the race — who went under the time by 12sec. "Absolutely stoked," Deans told commentators. "To come away with all PBs [personal bests] is more than I could have asked for, so I'm really happy." It was a standout week for Deans, who won silver in the freestyle 800m, and bronze in the 400m and 200m, and qualified for the world championships in the 400m, 800m, and 1500m. "This week has taken me by surprise to PB all of those, so that's just given me a lot of confidence about where I'm at and heading into Singapore later on," Deans said. Kiwi swimmer Alfie Weatherston Harvey is flanked by Ethan Stocks (left), of Roskill, and Jack Barton, of North Shore, after winning the men's 17-18 years 1500m freestyle. It has also been a standout week for Kiwi swimmer Alfie Weatherston-Harvey, who wrapped up with a fourth podium finish. He showed his strength across multiples strokes and finished with bronze in the men's 17-18 years 800m freestyle in 8min 34.90sec. Kiwi team-mate Liam Rees shaved more than 2sec off his personal best to claim bronze in the men's 17-18 years 200m IM in 2min 11.75sec. Otago were strong across the board and returned home with 11 medals from a successful championships. Former Dunedin swimmer Erika Fairweather won the women's 200m freestyle in 1min 56.56sec. Olympian Hazel Ouwehand shattered her national record in the 50m butterfly in 25.42sec, shaving 0.45sec off the record.
RNZ News
21-05-2025
- Sport
- RNZ News
Fairweather wins stunning 800 freestyle final to qualify for World Champs
New Zealand swimmer Erika Fairweather. Photo: PHOTOSPORT Olympians Erika Fairweather, Eve Thomas and Caitlin Deans have all recorded World Championship qualifying times in an impressive 800m Freestyle final on the opening day of the New Zealand Swimming Championships in Auckland. Fairweather showcased the form which saw her reach four Olympic finals last year. The 21-year-old led the race from start to finish, recording a time of 8:21.67s to go well under the World Champs qualification time of 8:34.62s. Eve Thomas pipped Caitlin Deans for second place with a of 8:29.32, just over half a second ahead of Thomas. "It means so much to me to make that qualification time," Deans said. "Everyone swam such a good race so I'm really stoked. Sharing the pool with Eve and Erika and having them to push me along has made me a better athlete and got me to where I am and it's great that we all swam under that time." North Shore's Louis Clark won the men's 1500m Freestyle in a time that qualified him for the 3-kilometre knockout Open Water event at the World Aquatics Championships in Singapore in July. Another athlete to punch his ticket to a world event was 18-year-old Igor Russanov who qualified for the World Junior Champs with his fifth place finish in the 50m Freestyle final. Sixteen-year-old Ariel Muchirahondo continued his fine run of form, picking up the first long course open national title of his career, storming home to win the men's 400m Individual Medley. In the multi class events Viking Swim Club's Gaby Smith took out the women's 100m Breaststroke final. The SB9 swimmer went under the World Para Swimming Championships qualification time. In the men's 100m Breaststroke Joshua Willmer finished third to break his SB8 New Zealand record twice in one day and go under the World Championships qualification time. In the women's 50m Freestyle Chelsey Edwards added another national title to her name, while Zoe Pedersen finished third setting a New Zealand 18-years record and going under the World Junior Championships qualification time. Olympian Hazel Ouwehand retained her national title in the women's 100m Butterfly. More than 350 athletes are competing at the Championships. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
Otago Daily Times
21-05-2025
- Sport
- Otago Daily Times
Medals for Deans, Weatherston-Harvey
Olympian Caitlin Deans grabbed Otago's first medal at the New Zealand championships last night. The Neptune swimmer faced a real battle against Olympic relay team-mate Eve Thomas, but Deans prevailed to secure silver in the women's 800m freestyle final in Auckland. She finished in 8min 29.32sec, while Thomas (Coast) claimed bronze in 8min 30.00sec. Former Dunedin swimmer Erika Fairweather, in her first race for new club North Shore since moving to Auckland earlier this year, won gold in 8min 21.67sec. All three swam under the qualifying mark for the world aquatic championships in Singapore later this year. Kiwi swimmer Alfie Weatherston-Harvey collected Otago's second medal, taking bronze in the men's 1500m final. The 17-year-old finished in 16min 13.20sec. Neptune swimmer Emilia Finer was the fourth Kiwi home in the women's 400m IM in 5min 02.66sec. She finished fifth overall after visiting athlete Videau Deotille, of Tahiti, claimed silver. Kiwi Kale Twist finished fifth in the men's 50m freestyle in 22.85sec and club-mate Liam Rees was seventh in the men's IM with 4min 49.49sec. Olympian Hazel Ouwehand was the only swimmer to go under the 1min mark in the women's 100m butterfly, finishing in 58.81sec. Esme Paterson (Neptune) was fifth in 1min 01.41sec. More Otago athletes are back in the pool today for the second day of the championships.
