Kiwi swimmer, Lewis Clareburt, has broken a New Zealand record at the NZ Swimming Champs.
Clareburt, aged 21, swam the 400m individual medley in 4 mins 09.87s, beating his previous record by more than two seconds.
Clareburt’s time was almost six seconds faster than the Olympic standard of 4m 15.84s and nine seconds ahead of second-placed Luan Grobbelaar.
This year, it is the second fastest 400m individual medley in the world.
Clareburt looms as New Zealand’s brightest hope of a swimming medal at Tokyo later this year.