Our inaugural Race with the Reps competition was held at Moana Pool in Dunedin on Saturday 20 January. For those that don't know, Race with the Reps is an interactive racing experience, where swimmers have the opportunity to race head to head against some of New Zealand’s top athletes.

With the World Championships kicking off in a matter of weeks, the Olympic Games right around the corner, and a handful of other international competitions coming up in 2024, what better way to start the new year than by providing emerging swimmers with the opportunity to engage with some of New Zealand's top athletes!

The day of racing started off with heats for the 50m events. Results from the heats would be used to seed the finals. There were some strong performances in the heats, with a number of personal best times recorded and one of our Reps - Kale Twist - dropping a strong mid-season performance in the 50m Freestyle with a time of 23.70. It was great to see so many athletes taking on all four 50m events and gaining valuable experience swimming swim the same event multiple times in a day (heats and finals).

The following session offered 100m and 200m events. After a hard session of 50m events, it was great to see so many athletes continuing to build their long course racing experience by taking on these longer events. For many of the younger athletes, this competition may have been one of the first times they have competed in a 50m pool, so gaining familiarity with and having fun in this new environment was a key aspect of the day of racing.

The second session was also a valuable opportunity for younger swimmers to watch our Reps in action, with almost all of the Reps taking on events. There were some stand out performances amongst our Reps, including Caitlin Deans recording a new personal best time of 2:00.95 in the 200m Freestyle and Kane Follows dropping an impressive 1:59.97 in the 200m Backstroke.

However, the showcase finals were the highlight of the day, where athletes had the opportunity to race head to head against some of New Zealand's top swimmers. Our Reps at the event were: Caitlin Deans, Erika Fairweather, Emilia Finer, Kane Follows, Luan Grobbelaar, Ruby Heath, Esme Paterson, Zac Reid, and Kale Twist. 

The finals were raced using a 'handicapping system', where athletes were each given a number in which they would leave the blocks on. This meant the younger swimmers would, one by one, leave after a handful of seconds, and the Reps would leave after - giving those with slower heats times a head start for the faster athletes to try to catch up to over the 50m distance.

Winners of showcase finals:

• Girls 50m Backstroke
  • A Final (featuring Esme Paterson) Winner = Sophia Kivileva (Neptune)
  • B Final (featuring Caitlin Deans) Winner = Kelicia Purcell (Wharenui)
  • C Final (featuring Erika Fairweather) Winner = Waverley Radka (Kiwi)
  • D Final (featuring Emilia Finer) Winner = Layla Thomas (Kiwi)
• Boys 50m Backstroke
  • A Final (featuring Kane Follows) Winner = Alfie Weatherston Harvey (Kiwi)
  • B Final (featuring Luan Grobbelaar) Winner = Mark Lauko (Queenstown)
  • C Final (featuring Zac Reid) Winner = Luka Willems (Wharenui)
• Girls 50m Breaststroke
  • A Final (featuring Emilia Finer) Winner = Kelicia Purcell (Wharenui)
  • B Final (featuring Ruby Heath) Winner = Layla Thomas (Kiwi)
• Boys 50m Breaststroke
  • A Final (featuring Kale Twist) Winner = Hugo Beeby (Neptune)
  • B Final (featuring Luan Grobbelaar) Winner = Luka Willems (Wharenui)
• Girls 50m Butterfly
  • A Final (featuring Caitlin Deans) Winner = Caitlin Ellett (Kiwi)
  • B Final (featuring Esme Paterson) Winner = Kelicia Purcell (Wharenui)
  • C Final (featuring Ruby Heath) Winner = Millie Long (Selwyn)
• Boys 50m Butterfly
  • A Final (featuring Zac Reid) Winner = Alfie Weatherston Harvey (Kiwi)
  • B Final (featuring Kale Twist) Winner = Hugo Beeby (Neptune)
  • C Final (featuring Kane Follows) Winner = Declan Ashby (North Canterbury)
• Girls 50m Freestyle
  • A Final (featuring Ruby Heath) Winner = Caitlin Ellett (Kiwi)
  • B Final (featuring Erika Fairweather) Winner = Kelicia Purcell (Wharenui)
  • C Final (featuring Caitlin Deans) Winner = Peyton Gilbert (Johnston Waters)
  • D Final (featuring Emilia Finer) Winner = Layla Thomas (Kiwi)
• Boys 50m Freestyle
  • A Final (featuring Kale Twist) Winner = Alfie Weatherston Harvey (Kiwi)
  • B Final (featuring Zac Reid) Winner = Declan Ashby (North Canterbury)
  • C Final (featuring Luan Grobbelaar) Winner = Luka Willems (Wharenui)

It was great to see so many smiling faces getting out of the pool after each showcase final, and we hope each and every one of our participants enjoyed this unique and fun racing experience! Caitlin, Erika, Emilia, Kane, Luan, Ruby, Esme, Zac, and Kale were awesome sports, and it was an amazing opportunity for so many up and coming athletes to interact with these inspiring, high performance swimmers.

Click here to view the full results from this competition

In addition to the excitement of racing, Bevan Rees (Alexandra) passed his assessment to become an accredited Inspector of Turns! Congratulations Bevan, and thank you for your contribution to our swimming community in ensuring that our competitions meet Swimming New Zealand Designated Approval Status.

If you are interested in becoming a technical official like Bevan, please email us at admin@swimotago.org. We would be more than happy to provide information and assist you in getting started on your journey.

Swimming Otago would like to extend a huge thank you to all those that made this event possible...

A huge thank you to our Reps - Caitlin, Erika, Emilia, Kane, Luan, Ruby, Esme, Zac, and Kale - for taking time out of their busy schedules to make this event possible. And a big thank you to Swim Dunedin's Michelle Summers, who worked closely with Swimming Otago Events and Development Coordinator, Kerren, to bring this idea to life.

As always, a big thank you to our dedicated cohort of officials on pool deck, on AOD duties, and in the recorder's office, as well as all those that gave up their time to timekeep. And finally, thank you to our amazing announcer Annika who created an awesome atmosphere at the event, and to Tanisha for managing our pre and post event marketing and photography on the day.

Looking for your next racing opportunity? Don't miss out on Alexandra Challenge Cup on Saturday 10 and Sunday 11 February 2024 - entries close on Thursday 1 February at 11:59PM. Get your entries in now!

Looking for photos from this competition? All the photos from the event are live now on our Facebook page. Click here to check them out!

Article added: Sunday 21 January 2024