logo
Deans confident on eve of world champs

Deans confident on eve of world champs

Relaxed looks good on Caitlin Deans.
The Dunedin swimmer had a national championships to remember in May when she swam four personal-best times, collected four medals and shattered an Otago record.
She claimed bronze in the women's freestyle 200m and 400m, silver in the 800m and gold in the 1500m, slashing nearly 6sec off the Otago record she set in April with a time of 16min 12.18sec.
It punched her ticket to her fourth long-course world championships in Singapore as part of a 12-strong New Zealand team.
The Paris Olympian will compete in the 800m and 1500m at the meeting which gets under way on Sunday.
She also swam under the world qualifying time for the 400m but only two athletes from each country can swim in an event at the world championships.
"Really excited to be heading off to my fourth world champs," Deans said.
"I don't think the excitement ever dulls, no matter how many times you've been before."
Heading into the national championships, Deans had no expectation of where she would finish and was taken aback by her results.
"Honestly, it took me by surprise.
"I didn't quite expect to be hitting the times that I did at nationals, so I think that gave me a lot of confidence leading up to this meet and confidence in getting a good training block under my belt before worlds."
Maybe taking the pressure off suits the 25-year-old.
"Nothing that I can think of that was any different.
"Probably just more relaxed than usual, because it was my first time having a big break post-Olympics out of the water.
"Not having that expectation on myself about how I was going to go probably plays a part in it."
Deans made history during her first Olympic campaign.
She was part of the women's 4x200m freestyle relay team in Paris alongside former Dunedin swimmer Erika Fairweather, Eve Thomas and Laticia Transom. They were the first Kiwi women's relay team to make an Olympic final, finishing eighth in a stacked field.
"Going to the Olympics was pretty surreal. It's something that I've dreamed of since I was a little kid, so to actually fulfil that ... I don't think it's sunk in and I'm not sure if it ever will.
"The Olympics is just something else. It's so different to anything else we do, and to experience that is something I'll be forever grateful for."
That experience, alongside having raced at three previous world championships, helps the long-distance specialist as she dives into the pool.
"It definitely helps and plays a big part.
"The more exposure you can get to the international racing scene, the better, and it starts to normalise those big names.
"Obviously having an Olympics under the belt helps with that."
Working alongside experienced Dunedin coach Lars Humer also helped her development.
"Lars bring with him a lot of experience. Obviously I've worked with him for a long time now, so I'm very lucky."
Deans is looking forward to putting her best foot forward at the world championships and getting back to racing, not just for herself but for her support network.
"I've had a lot of people support me in multiple different ways to get to this world champs, whether it's been their time, or financially, all the work that they've put in to help me get there.
"I'm just hoping I can do them, and myself, really proud."
Auckland-based Fairweather, the defending women's freestyle 400m world champion, will also race in Singapore, alongside Olympian Lewis Clareburt.
Olympian Hazel Ouwehand qualified in the butterfly but made herself unavailable.
kayla.hodge@odt.co.nz
Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Claressa Shields v Lani Daniels: Champion's warning for Kiwi rival ahead of undisputed title fight
Claressa Shields v Lani Daniels: Champion's warning for Kiwi rival ahead of undisputed title fight

NZ Herald

time20 hours ago

  • NZ Herald

Claressa Shields v Lani Daniels: Champion's warning for Kiwi rival ahead of undisputed title fight

'I'm grateful and blessed to be here. I'm grateful to have a voice. I'm not as good as these fullas at talking but I think I'm better at fighting,' Daniels said. 'I'm grateful for the talk practice, because it'll prepare me for Saturday when my hands go to work. I don't have too much to say, I just want to thank everyone for making this fight and event possible.' Daniels goes into the bout with an 11-2-2 record, most recently defending her light heavyweight title last September. She faces a big step up in competition against Shields, with the bout scheduled to play out over 10 two-minute rounds. American Claressa Shields will put her undisputed heavyweight crown on the line against Kiwi Lani Daniels (inset) in Detroit this weekend. Photo / Getty Images, NZME 'I have a very sturdy opponent in front of me in Lani Daniels,' Shields said. 'I want to tell you something; I have not taken you lightly. 'People keep saying they don't know who Lani is and sad to say you guys don't know who half of the girls, who any of the girls fighting [are] because nobody works on building their brand like I do. You can't try to shoot me in the foot over that. 'I've been building my brand so I have 1.4 million followers, I think it's over 2 million worldwide, so to share that platform with Lani is very, very special. 'There's going to be more eyes than have ever been on you on Saturday; in the building, online, on DAZN, it's going to be huge... I cannot let you beat me up. I can't do it. 'There's a lot on the line here... I have prepared for you and your coach very, very hard, and me and my team know what you bring to the table. We respect you and I thank you for coming all the way over here from New Zealand, bringing your family. I look forward to sharing the ring with you.' While Daniels goes into the bout as the underdog, Shields was expecting the Kiwi to present her with a challenge. 'Everyone keeps saying that they're a little scared for you. I'm not. I'm not a little scared for you. 'I know you're going to come and you're going to bring it, but if you can bring out a different beast in me to where I have to rise to a different occasion, then I'll be scared for you,' she said. 'I'm not scared for you yet. I am ready to see how hard you're going to come out there and fight on Saturday, and... if you really want to be champion. If you do that, that's when you're going to see a great fight.' How to watch The bout will headline the card in Detroit on Sunday, which begins at midday NZT on streaming platform DAZN. According to DAZN, Shields and Daniels are estimated to make their walks to the ring about 2pm.

Champion Fairweather goes for a medal three-peat
Champion Fairweather goes for a medal three-peat

Newsroom

time20 hours ago

  • Newsroom

Champion Fairweather goes for a medal three-peat

Erika Fairweather will be the first New Zealander to defend a swimming world title at the World Aquatics championships in Singapore starting on Sunday. Should she place on the podium in the 400m freestyle on July 27, she, at just 21, will become the first Aquablack to win a medal at three different World Aquatics long course championships after her efforts in 2023 and 2024. She may have to be on top form even to be just outside the medals as she was at Paris. But it is the podium that Fairweather and her new coach Graham Hill will be aiming for. Just one other female -Lauren Boyle – has stood on any level of a world championship swimming podium for New Zealand. But she was six foot and aged 25 when she got her first medal in 2013. Fairweather was a teenager when she won her first. Now she is off to her sixth world championships. Her first was as a 15-year-old when she won the 200m freestyle at the 2019 World Junior championships. Fairweather switched to Hill in Auckland from Otago earlier this year after her previous coach Lars Humer retired from international coaching. Hill, whose swimmers have won six Olympic medals across four Olympic Games, arrived from South Africa where he was the head coach of the South African swim team. As Swimming New Zealand's head Olympic coach, he wants medals from Aquablacks now. Hill likes winning medals. Australian Ariarne Titmus, unbeaten in the 400m freestyle since 2018, is taking a break from competitive swimming. This may not even make a podium placing easier for Fairweather as competition this year is faster than any Olympic year. Without Titmus at Paris, Fairweather would have been New Zealand's first female Olympic swimming medallist since 1952. It's rare for a Kiwi to come away from a long course world swimming championship with a medal. Since Danyon Loader won three medals at Rome in 1994, only three have. Indeed, it is rare for a Kiwi to compete in an individual final; just four have since 2015. While New Zealand got its first 4x200m women's freestyle relay in an Olympic final at Paris, there will not be a Singapore repeat; New Zealand is not entering one, preferring to focus on Fairweather's 800m event the following day. At last year's worlds, Fairweather won an 800m bronze medal and her relay the day before was placed fourth. Fairweather deserves to rub shoulders with her main rivals, former world record holder Katie Ledecky of the US and the hot favourite and current world record holder, 18-year-old Canadian Summer McIntosh, the world's best athlete in a swim cap. At the 2023 world championships, in beating McIntosh, Fairweather shared a podium with Ledecky and Titmus when she became the world's fifth woman to ever break four minutes in the 400m freestyle. In less than a year, things have changed. At Paris last year, Fairweather was competing against the best 400m freestyle swimmers of all time. But they have just got faster as they use this year as a launching pad for the 2028 Olympics. Ledecky currently holds four world records. McIntosh holds six, three of which were set in one competition last month, the first swimmer to do that since Michael Phelps in 2008. Australian Lani Pallister and Tokyo Olympic medallist Li Bingjie from China added their names to that exclusive sub four-minute group, with US teenage swimmer Claire Weinstein just 0.05 seconds shy. Pallister is ranked second this year in the 25m pool. Fairweather looks for her time at the Swimming NZ Champs. Photo: David Rowland/ and Swimming NZ Before Paris, it was Fairweather who was setting lifetime bests when others were not, so she will be looking for a competitive time again this month. Her last lifetime best across her top events (3:59.44 seconds) was at trials for Paris, but her best this season is 4:03.06 seconds. Hill will be hoping Fairweather hits her straps for a big season best to touch the wall ahead of some of the top four seeds in Singapore. It's unlikely she will successfully defend her title unless she improves on her season best by at least eight seconds. But if she clocks a lifetime best, as she has done at each of the past two world championships, she could be on the podium with Ledecky and McIntosh unless Pallister shuts her out. Ledecky was just 0.26 seconds (or about 40 centimetres) ahead of Fairweather at Paris. It's not much. Fairweather has indicated she wants to compete at her third Olympics in Los Angeles in 2028, where she will still only be 24. As times get quicker and a couple more like Weinstein join the sub-four club, it may take a sub four-minute swim to make a 400m freestyle Olympic final, with Ledecky at her home Olympics and Titmus back for her final Olympics, to attempt a three-peat.

Lawson 'frustrated' as he qualifies 11th for Belgian GP sprint
Lawson 'frustrated' as he qualifies 11th for Belgian GP sprint

1News

time21 hours ago

  • 1News

Lawson 'frustrated' as he qualifies 11th for Belgian GP sprint

Kiwi F1 driver Liam Lawson was "a little bit frustrated" after qualifying 11th for the sprint race at the Belgian Grand Prix this weekend. The Racing Bulls driver narrowly missed out on SQ3, just under three tenths of a second behind Kick Sauber's Gabriel Bortoleto. His teammate, Isack Hadjar, qualified ninth. After qualifying, Lawson expressed his frustration with the result. "It's just small margins, which is crazy around here because it's such a long lap." Lawson said the car had been fast and was on a lap that was "probably plenty good enough". ADVERTISEMENT "But [I] had a small issue in the last chicane, and it's just tiny things that make a difference, so it's knocked us out". Lawson said he would try to make up the three places needed to secure the points for the race, which starts at 10pm tonight. "We'll take the learnings from today and try to fix it for Quali tomorrow as well." Piastri beats Verstappen to pole as Red Bull's post-Horner era begins McLaren driver Oscar Piastri of Australia steers his car during the sprint qualification ahead of the Formula One Grand Prix at the Spa-Francorchamps racetrack in Spa, Belgium (Source: Associated Press) Oscar Piastri beat Max Verstappen to pole position as Red Bull began its first race weekend since the firing of Christian Horner as team principal. Red Bull has been the focus of attention in F1 after Horner's dismissal earlier this month, but Piastri, Verstappen and Lando Norris showed the title fight remains vibrant ahead of today's sprint. ADVERTISEMENT Piastri was at risk of being eliminated after straying off track in the second part of the session, but bounced back to take pole by .477 of a second from Red Bull's Verstappen, who split the two dominant McLarens by relegating Norris to third, .618 off the pace. 'The car's been mega all day,' Piastri said. 'This is a track I love, it's my favourite one of the year, and maybe that gave me a couple of extra tenths (of a second).' Norris' emotional win in the rain at the British Grand Prix cut Piastri's championship lead to eight points, while Piastri fumed at what he saw as the unfair penalty he received at Silverstone. Saturday was the first test of the Australian driver's vow to harness the 'frustration' he felt to win more races. And just like at Silverstone, rain could play a big part this weekend. It may affect both Saturday's sprint and the Grand Prix on Monday. Charles Leclerc was fourth for Ferrari, and Haas had a strong day with Esteban Ocon fifth and Oliver Bearman seventh. Yuki Tsunoda continued to struggle in the second Red Bull, qualifying 12th for the sprint, and it was a poor session for Mercedes, with George Russell 13th and Kimi Antonelli 20th. Red Bull uncertainty Red Bull team principal Laurent Mekies, second left, during the first practice session ahead of the Formula One Grand Prix at the Spa-Francorchamps racetrack in Spa, Belgium (Source: Associated Press) ADVERTISEMENT Red Bull's new team principal, Laurent Mekies, says he hasn't been told why the company chose to fire Horner. Amid rampant speculation across Formula 1, Red Bull's parent company hasn't explained its reasons for removing Horner from his role after 20 years. Mekies said his appointment was 'a surprise for everyone'. 'We didn't get into the 'why?' and the 'why now?', but they outlined the sort of objectives they had for the team moving forward,' said Mekies, who is in charge of the team for the first time at the Belgian Grand Prix after moving up from sister team Racing Bulls. Mekies has been in contact with Horner, who he said was 'nothing else than supportive, even in the extremely difficult context'. One thing has stayed the same — Verstappen's future remains uncertain. The Dutch driver said Friday that Horner was like a 'second family' but that his removal wouldn't affect his plans. Verstappen said he still hoped to remain with Red Bull for the rest of his career but noted that 'life is unpredictable'. In an extra twist, Russell indicated to broadcaster Sky Sports on Friday that he believed Verstappen and Mercedes remained in talks. 'I'm sure Max wants a fast car, and if we get him a fast car, I'm sure it's cancelling out all the other considerations,' Mekies said Friday, adding that if that happens, it could be 'an easy call for Max." ADVERTISEMENT Hamilton in a spin Lewis Hamilton has declared it's 'crunch time' for him at Ferrari, but there was more disappointment for the British driver as he spun at the final chicane in sprint qualifying and finished 18th. The seven-time champion, yet to finish on the podium in a Grand Prix since joining Ferrari, revealed Thursday he's been setting up a series of meetings not just with top team personnel, but with Ferrari's corporate leadership. Hamilton is seeking 'structural adjustments' and to make sure his voice is part of Ferrari's development plans for 2026.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store