World Championships, Day One Finals: Erika Fairweather Makes History As She Dominates 400 Free For Gold
Erika Fairweather became the first New Zealand swimmer to win gold at the World Championships when she dominated the 400 free at the Aspire Dome in Doha.
Fairweather led throughout to touch in 3:59.44 with a winning margin of 2.18secs over Li Bingjie who claimed her seventh World Championship medal in 4:01.62 with Isobel Gose of Germany third in 4:02.39.
Maria Fernanda Costa lowered her South American record to 4:02.86 in fourth.
Reigning champion Ariarne Titmus and Katie Ledecky have won the last six world titles with the American victorious on four occasions.
However, the pair have chosen to bypass the 2024 World Championships, meaning an opportunity presented itself to visit the top of the podium, one that Fairweather took with both hands.
After clambering out of the pool, she exclaimed: “how crazy is that?!”
Fairweather and Li were separated by 0.05secs in prelims with the Chinese swimmer leading the way in 4:04.65. and it was she who came up ahead.
However, the Kiwi soon took control and led at the first turn, with Maria Fernanda De Oliveira a half bodylength adrift with Li next in the chasing pack.
By halfway, she led by 1.65 with Li in second, extending the lead to 2.01secs at the 300m mark.
Li was expected to make her move in the latter stages of the race but Fairweather was in complete and total control, to come home inside 4mins and claim her first senior title.
Splits: 57.54/1:58.41/2:59.32/3:59.44
The 20-year-old also lowered her New Zealand record of 3:59.59 set en-route to bronze behind Titmus and Ledecky at the 2023 World Championships.
She is one of only five women to have broken the four-minute barrier, topped by Titmus and her eye-watering world record of 3:55.38 to secure gold in Fukuoka last year.
Summer McIntosh (3:56.08), Ledecky (3:56.46) and Federica Pellegrini – the first woman inside 4mins in 3:59.25 back in 2009 – are the other women to go inside that mark.
Fairweather said in a poolside interview:
“That’s the goal in any race, right, to get your hand on the wall first?
“So we just went for it and I am so stoked.”