Erika Fairweather and Lewis Clareburt won New Zealand’s first two medals of the 2026 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Scotland, on 24 July. Fairweather took silver in the women’s 400m freestyle, and just minutes later, Clareburt claimed silver in the men’s 200m individual medley.
Fairweather finished behind Australia’s Lani Pallister, who won the race in a fast time of three minutes and 59.56 seconds. Fairweather stayed close to the leader for most of the race before Pallister pulled away near the end. Although Fairweather felt she could have swum better, she was thrilled to finally win a Commonwealth Games medal after narrowly missing out four years earlier in Birmingham.
Clareburt’s silver medal came after an exciting finish, where he swam a brilliant final freestyle leg to move up into second place. Scotland’s Duncan Scott won gold in front of his home crowd, setting a new Games record, while England’s Tom Dean took bronze. For Clareburt, the result meant even more because he achieved a personal best time, finally dipping under a mark he had been chasing for eight years.
The strong start from the two swimmers gave New Zealand plenty to cheer about on the opening night of finals. Clareburt said he had not even realised Fairweather had already won her medal until after his own race, making the achievement an even more special surprise for the Kiwi team.
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