Erika Fairweather has qualified for the final of the 400 metres freestyle at the Tokyo Olympics by finishing second in her heat.
Erika Fairweather. Photo: OIS.
Fairweather's time of 4:02:28 seconds broke Lauren Boyle's New Zealand record and Fairweather's personal best.
The 17-year-old Kavanagh College student from Dunedin is the youngest New Zealand athlete in Tokyo and has become New Zealand's strongest hope in the pool these Olympic Games.
Photo: RNZ / Nate McKinnon
The final will be raced on Monday afternoon (2:20pm NZ time), when Fairweather will be hoping to break the swimming team's 25-year Olympic medal drought.
Read more:
- All of RNZ's coverage of the Tokyo Olympics
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The drought continued on Sunday when Lewis Clareburt finished seventh in the men's 400 metres individual medley final.
He still has a shot in the heats of the 200 metres on Wednesday.
