New Zealand has celebrated two bronze medals at the Glasgow 2026 swimming championships.
Erika Fairweather won bronze in the women’s 200m freestyle just one day after earning silver in the 400m freestyle. Soon after, Hazel Ouwehand also claimed bronze in the women’s 50m butterfly. Their strong performances gave New Zealand another successful day in the pool.
Fairweather started in lane two after being the fifth-fastest qualifier. She stayed in fourth place for most of the race before finishing with a powerful sprint to move past England’s Freya Colbert. Fairweather finished in 1 minute 55.24 seconds, more than three seconds faster than her qualifying swim. Australia’s Mollie O’Callaghan won the race in 1 minute 54.66 seconds. Fairweather said she was proud of her performance in such a competitive final.
Ouwehand also swam an excellent race to earn bronze in the fast and exciting 50m butterfly. She finished in 25.76 seconds, ahead of South Africa’s Jessica Thompson, while Australia’s Alex Perkins won in 25.37 seconds. Ouwehand said she was happy with her swim and focused on giving everything she had right to the finish.
New Zealand nearly won another medal in the mixed 4 × 100m freestyle relay. The team of Carter Swift, Cameron Gray, Chelsey Edwards and Erika Fairweather finished fourth after setting a new New Zealand record of 3 minutes 24.82 seconds. They missed the bronze medal by just half a second.
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