Lewis Clareburt – This Is Only The Beginning

In March Capital swimmer Lewis Clareburt from Scots College in Wellington equalled 1996 Olympic Champion Danyon Loader’s near 25-year-old national age group record in the 200m freestyle, clocking in at 1.51.70. When the 17-year old returned home to check his Facebook page there was a special note in his inbox.


“Danyon coached my older sister and passed on his congratulations, which was pretty cool. He also said, ‘this is only the beginning,” Clareburt reveals.
In nine days Clareburt will head to the Bahamas as part of an 11-strong New Zealand squad for the Junior Commonwealth Games.
Clareburt will be a busy boy competing in five individual events and three mixed relays where he will look to enhance his growing reputation which soared again at the New Zealand Open Championships in March where he won three silver medals and set the National age group record in the 400m individual medley (IM).
The eight events Clareburt will compete in are:

• 200m freestyle
• 400m freestyle
• 200m IM
• 400m IM
• 200m butterfly
• 4×100 medley relay
• 4×100 freestyle relay
• 4×200 freestyle relay

Despite breaking Loader’s long-standing record, Clareburt prefers and is stronger in the medleys. Jack Cartwright the Australia 200m freestyle champion is four seconds quicker in the 200m freestyle.
“The 400 IM is my favourite event. It’s fun testing all strokes and requires discipline and endurance to succeed,” he says.


Times suggest Clareburt will be a strong medal contender in the medleys. His personal best in the 400 IM is 4:21.05 set in April. At the Australian age group Nationals, Nathan Robinson won the same event in a time of 4:21:80.

Australia is typically the strongest swimming country at the event. Clareburt is swimming similar times to Australian Clyde Lewis who won the 200 and 400 IM double at the Games in 2015. Clareburt is taking nothing for granted.

“Breaststroke is my weakest stroke. It’s a power stroke and I’m not the biggest so I am spending a lot of time in the gym bulking up and trying to get stronger,” he admits.

The Bahamas is novel territory where diet must be monitored and heat presents considerable challenges.
“Were not allowed to drink the local tap water and will be on a stricter diet than usual. Things should be pretty good, but we have to be cautious.” Clareburt explained.

“The races will be held in an outdoor pool so doing backstroke considering the sun will be a challenge. Also, if the water temperature is too hot that could be a drag,”

A new challenge will be taking part in the relays alongside teammates Chelsey Edwards, Madie Falconer, Callum Prime and Zac Reid.

“We don’t have a lot of time together so when we meet we will work on transitions which is something we should be able to do quickly anyway. I’m not sure how we compare to the rest, but we will give it our best,” Clareburt predicts.
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With a strong showing at the Junior Commonwealth Games, Clareburt will likely appear at the sixth FINA World Junior Swimming Championships to be held in Indianapolis, Indiana in August. The championships are for girls aged 14-17 and boys age 15-18. Nearly 1,000 athletes from 100 different countries are expected to compete at this event.

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