It's Trials Time Around the World

It’s racing season around the world so here’s a quick wrap from our Funky Trunkers who recently raced at New Zealand and South African Champs.

Lewis Clareburt (New Zealand)

Event: 400m individual medley
Time: 4:14.78
Place: 1

Event: 200m freestyle
Time: 1:48.15
Place: 1

Event: 400m freestyle
Time: 3:52.10
Place: 2

Lewis Clareburt is back to full speed after a few training interruptions over the last 6 months, thanks partly to a skateboard and gravity.  He raced the 2023 Apollo New Zealand Open Championships where he achieved the time standard for the World Championships in his first event, the 400m individual medley, which he won with a time of 04:14.78. Although he thought his time was average, he was happy to be hitting that time in the lead up to Worlds. Lewis won his other events, the 200m freestyle and 100m butterfly, with times of 1:48.15 and 52.54, respectively. He also placed second in the 400m freestyle with a time of 3:52.10. Lewis felt good leading up to the meet and had a specific goal to achieve the qualifying time for the World Championships, which he accomplished. He sees this meet as preparation for the World Championships and thinks it’s a great start to the season.

Zac Dell (New Zealand)

Event: 100m freestyle
Time: 49.07
Place: 1

Event: 100m backstroke
Time: 55.27
Place: 2

Event: 50m backstroke
Time: 25.66
Place: 2

Zac Dell also competed at NZ Open Champs and won the 100m freestyle with a time of 49.07 and felt that it was his best swim of the meet. He also placed second in both the 100m and 50m backstroke with times of 55.27 and 25.66 respectively. While he was a bit over his personal best time in the 100m backstroke, he was happy with his performance in the 50m backstroke. Overall, Zac felt that his training leading up to the event was different, but as he was tapered, he was hoping to achieve a FINA A time in his backstroke, which didn't happen. Nonetheless, he got some big PBs in his freestyle and may be going to race in the US with the NZ team, which will give him more opportunities for overseas racing.

Andrew Ross (South Africa)
Event: 200m freestyle
Time: 1:50.89
Place: 3

Event: 200m individual medley
Time: 2:01.88
Place: 2

Over in South Africa, Andrew Ross competed in the South African National Championships. He hadn’t raced at the top level for some time so leading into the meet he was quite nervous, but excited to race again after a 3 week taper. Andrew was not entirely pleased with his times and plans on making changes to the taper process with his coach, as he felt he lost his aerobic base in the last week before the meet. The South African National Championships was also preparation for the World University Games, which Andrew will be competing in so all his training and preparation will be geared towards that.

We will keep you updated with more results from our F-Teamers right here and on our socials.