Erika Fairweather (born 31 December 2003) is a New Zealand swimmer[1] who competed at the 2019 World Aquatics Championships and the 2020 Summer Olympics.

Erika Fairweather
Personal information
Born (2003-12-31) 31 December 2003 (age 20)
Dunedin, New Zealand
Height1.70 m (5 ft 7 in)
Weight59 kg (130 lb)
Sport
CountryNew Zealand
SportSwimming
StrokesFreestyle
Medal record
Women's swimming
Representing  New Zealand
Event 1st 2nd 3rd
World Championships (LC) 1 1 2
World Championships (SC) 0 2 0
World Junior Championships 1 0 0
Total 2 3 2
World Championships (LC)
Gold medal – first place 2024 Doha 400 m freestyle
Silver medal – second place 2024 Doha 200 m freestyle
Bronze medal – third place 2023 Fukuoka 400 m freestyle
Bronze medal – third place 2024 Doha 800 m freestyle
World Championships (SC)
Silver medal – second place 2022 Melbourne 400 m freestyle
Silver medal – second place 2022 Melbourne 800 m freestyle
World Junior Championships
Gold medal – first place 2019 Budapest 200 m freestyle

Fairweather was born in Dunedin, She is of mixed European and Māori descent, affiliating with Ngāi Tahu iwi.[2] She attended Kavanagh College and was head girl in 2021.[3]

In 2018 she competed at both the 2018 Summer Youth Olympics and the 2018 Junior Pan Pacific Games.[4] In August 2019, Fairweather won the gold medal in the 200 metres freestyle at the World Junior Swimming Championships in Budapest, Hungary, breaking her own New Zealand age-group record with a time of 1:57.96. She finished fourth in the final of the 400 metres, again breaking her own national age-group record with a time of 4:08.78.[5]

At the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, Fairweather finished second in her heat of the 400 metres freestyle, breaking the New Zealand record (set by Lauren Boyle in 2012), with a time of 4:02.28.[6]

At the 2023 World Aquatics Championships she finished third in the 400m freestyle in the 'race of the century', breaking her New Zealand record with a time of 3:59.59.[7]

References

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  1. ^ "Junior swimmer Erika Fairweather qualifies for world championships". Stuff. Retrieved 21 July 2019.
  2. ^ "FOUR SWIMMERS SELECTED FOR YOUTH OLYMPIC GAMES". www.swimming.org.nz. Archived from the original on 5 March 2022. Retrieved 4 August 2021.
  3. ^ Cully, Paul (26 July 2021). "Erika Fairweather's schoolmates burst with pride at teenager's Tokyo Olympics feats". Stuff. Retrieved 4 August 2021.
  4. ^ "Erika Fairweather". Olympedia. Retrieved 16 June 2021.
  5. ^ "Kiwi swimmer Erika Fairweather powers to world junior gold in 200m freestyle," stuff.co.nz. 26 August 2019. Retrieved 30 December 2019.
  6. ^ "Tokyo Olympics: Erika Fairweather swims race of her life against stars to make 400m final | Stuff.co.nz". 26 July 2021. Archived from the original on 26 July 2021. Retrieved 26 July 2021.
  7. ^ Pender, Kieran (23 July 2023). "Titmus breaks world record to reign over Ledecky and McIntosh in swimming's 'Race of the Century'". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 24 July 2023.
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Awards
Preceded by Halberg Awards – Emerging Talent Award
2021
Succeeded by