Erika Fairweather, Lewis Clareburt claim silvers in the pool for New Zealand at 2026 Commonwealth Games

Saturday, 25 July 2026

Lewis Clareburt of New Zealand, left, with gold medal winner Duncan Scott of Scotland and Tom Dean (England, bronze) after the men's 200 metre individual medley at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.

Lewis Clareburt had multiple reasons to be the happiest of New Zealand’s silver medallists after day one in the pool at the Commonwealth Games.

Clareburt set a new national record when storming home to finish second in the men's 200 metre individual medley final at the Tollcross venue in Glasgow on Saturday morning (NZ time).

He almost caught home country favourite and event defending champion Duncan Scott in the dying stages of the final freestyle leg, with Scott holding on to win by 0.29s, to the delight of the fans amid a raucous atmosphere.

“It sort of feels like Paris,” Clareburt said after his medal ceremony, in reference to his 400IM final at the 2024 Olympic Games, when the crowd went wild over French superstar Leon Marchand.

“How Leon was the guy, and we've got Duncan on the top step, and the Scots were just as loud as what they were for Leon for Duncan.”

Clareburt will keep his silver medal, but was delighted to give away the soft toy mascot he received on the podium.

“I'm not gonna lie, I just met my nephew for the first time, so that was pretty cool,” Clareburt told Sky Sport.

Lewis Clareburt powers through the water in Glasgow.

“I haven't seen my sister in months and months, and she's had her kid since the last time I saw her, so that was probably the most special part of that. I gave him [Arthur] a soft toy, so hopefully he'll have that for life.”

Clareburt’s time of 1:56.77 eclipsed his personal best of 1:57.06 set in Singapore last year.

“I've been sitting on that 1min 57s mark for eight years. It's so good to have finally cracked it, and on such a big stage. What a great feeling.”

Clareburt’s 200IM performance - his fifth Commonwealth Games medal - will have bolstered his hopes of claiming gold in his specialist 400m individual medley event later in the Games, with Australia’s William Petric and England’s Max Litchfield likely to be his main challengers. The final is scheduled for Wednesday at 6.47am (NZT).

“I couldn't have asked for much more. It's such a special feeling and I hope that this sets the tone for the rest of the week. I hope that this is just the start of a great week.”

Scott, a double Olympic champion, will have a stand inside the Tollcross International Swimming Centre named after him at the completion of the Games.

Lani Pallister of Australia, left, is congratulated by Erika Fairweather of New Zealand after the women's 400m freestyle final.

He and Clareburt will clash again during the meet, first in the 200m butterfly (8.14am Tuesday) where the Kiwi will defend his title from Birmingham.

The 27-year-old moved across the Tasman following the 2024 Paris Olympics - where he was disappointed with his sixth place in the 400IM - to train at Nunawading in Victoria.

Erika Fairweather won the first of what could be a handful of medals for her at the Games, but couldn’t make it gold in her favoured event.

She was second in the women’s 400 metres freestyle final behind in-form Australian Lani Pallister.

The trans-Tasman duo pulled away early from the rest of the field in the first final of the evening at the Tollcross swimming venue, with Fairweather on Pallister’s shoulders for almost 250m before the fifth-ranked all-time over the 400 free distance and has twice gone under the four-minute barrier this year.

But the Australian drew away over the final 150m to win in a time of 3:59.56 - the third time this season the rising star has broken the four-minute barrier in the event.

Fairweather, who was the fastest qualifier from the morning heats, collected her first Commonwealth Games medal after finishing fourth in the same event in Birmingham in 2022.

“This is a stepping stone towards LA,” Fairweather said after her medal ceremony in regards to chasing a medal at the 2028 Olympics.

“We always thought of it as that. So yeah, it's just one step in the journey.”

The 22-year-old will also contest the 200m, 800 and 1500 free, along with the women's 4x200m freestyle relay and the mixed 4x100m freestyle relay, and will be up against Pallister in the longer-distance events, with the Australian heavily favoured to win gold in the latter two.

The 200 free however may be Fairweather’s best chance at gold, after she broke the New Zealand record by winning in 1:55.06 at the national championships in May.

New Zealand’s Hazel Ouwehand and Zoe Pedersen qualified for the women's 50m butterfly final, with Ouwehand the third-fastest qualifier in 26.01s.