1 minute read
Representing NZ
By Frank Neill
Wadestown swimmer Finn Harland has been selected in the New Zealand team to compete in the World Aquatic Junior Swimming Championships.
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Finn, who is 17, is the only male in the team which will travel to Netanya, Israel, for the event that runs from 4 to 9 September.
The fact that he swam a fast enough time to qualify for selection “was a bit of a surprise,” Finn says.
That was because he got very sick with long Covid last year.
As a result “I turned up the week after New Year pretty out of shape.
“My coach managed to get me back on track, but I had a long way to go.”
Finn attended the New Zealand Age Group Swimming Camp, held from 24 to 27 January.
“It was a bit of a struggle,” he says, owing to his lack of fitness and condition.
However by early February he was able to train properly.
“But I only had eight weeks or so to prepare for the nationals [the National Age Group Swimming Championships].”
His target was to better the World Championships qualifying time of 56.1 seconds in the 100 metres backstroke.
His personal best at that point was 56.9 seconds.
Despite his short build-up, Finn slashed 1.6 seconds from his previous best time when he clocked 55.3 seconds.
“I was pretty stoked,” he says. “I didn’t expect to [clock such a good time].
Finn also shone in the 50 metres backstroke, setting a new New Zealand age group record of 25.6 seconds.
That was his second New Zealand age group record, as Finn also holds the national record for 16 year olds of 26.33 seconds in the same event.
Finn has just won four titles at the Apollo Projects New Zealand Age Group Swimming championships, held at the Hawkes Bay Regional Aquatic Centre from 12 to 16 April.
His victories came in the 50 metres and 100 metres backstroke and in the 100 metres and 200 metres freestyle.
He also finished third in the 50 metres freestyle.
He will compete in the 50 metres, 100 metres and 200 metres backstroke at the World Championships, and possibly also in the 100 metres and 200 metres freestyle.
“I am looking forward to it,” he says.
“I’m excited.
“It’s a good group of people we’ve got going to the World Champs.
“There are no other males but it’s a good group of girls that are going.”
A Wellington College student, Finn has swum with the Capital Swim Club for the past two years. Before that, he swam for the Karori Pirates.
