New Zealand swimmer Erika Fairweather has had to settle for fourth in the women’s 400m freestyle final at the Paris Olympics.
The 20-year-old from Dunedin went into Saturday’s (Sunday NZ Time) final as the third-fastest qualifier, and had strong hopes of claiming an Olympic medal to go along with the two world titles she won earlier this year.
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But she was up against some top-quality opponents.
Australian Ariarne Titmus, the world record holder, successfully defended her Olympic crown, winning the race in a sizzling 3 minutes 57.49 seconds from Canadian Summer McIntosh, whose 3:58.37 represented a colossal improvement on her heat time.
American Katie Ledecky, former Olympic champion and world record holder, had to be satisfied with third in 4:00.86 and Fairweather was fourth in 4:01.12, with her charge at Ledecky coming too late.
The New Zealander was playing catch-up for most of the race as Titmus set a torrid pace and McIntosh gambled all on trying to stay with her.
Fairweather’s experience in the 400m in Paris reminded New Zealand Olympic historians of the experience of Rebecca Perrott in Montreal in 1976.
The tall 15-year-old Wellingtonian swam brilliantly in the heats against the might of the East Germans and was fastest qualifier for the final. In the final, Perrott missed a medal by just a whisker, finishing fourth.
Not surprisingly, Fairweather said after her final she was “a little bit gutted” to miss out on a medal.
“No-one wants to come fourth, but I gave it everything I had out there. I know I can go quite a bit faster, but it just wasn’t there today. It is what it is.”
She was at a loss to explain why things had not quite clicked for her in the final, after swimming so well in her heat.
“I’d love to have been on that podium, but I can’t complain. They are some great swimmers there.”
Though the 400m is her top event, Fairweather still has a busy programme ahead of her in Paris, competing in the women's 200m freestyle, women's 800m freestyle and women's 4x200m freestyle relay.
“I’ve got a mountain to climb this week and look forward to different aspects of the different races.”
Earlier in the day, Fairweather turned in an impressive performance in her heat to qualify third-fastest.
With the fastest eight from the three heats progressing straight into the final, Fairweather’s 4 minute 02.55 second effort placed her third behind Ledecky and Titmus. Fairweather swam a strong race to win her heat by 0.1 seconds from McIntosh, the fourth-fastest qualifier.
Fairweather, the 2024 world champion over 400m freestyle, said she knew she had to be fast to earn a good position for the final.
"Having Summer beside me was perfect, a good gauge of where I was."
Also in the women's 400m freestyle, another New Zealander, Eve Thomas, swam 4min 11.86s, which placed her 17th overall.
Earlier, in the women's 100m butterfly heats, Auckland-based Hazel Ouwehand swam a respectable 58.03s, finishing fifth in her heat and 18th fastest overall.
With the top-16 swimmers progressing to the semifinals, she missed by just 0.13 seconds. In last year’s world championships, Ouwehand was timed at 59.81s and was 26th overall.