Another big swim by Fairweather

Freestyle swimmer Erika Fairweather tonight continued her great form in Tokyo by qualifying for the 200m freestyle semi-finals.

The 17-year-old Dunedin schoolgirl drew by far the fastest heat and finished fifth in 1min 27.26s, which is a personal best for her over the distance.

The heat was won by American superstar Kathleen Ledecky in 1min 55.28s and the three fastest semi-finalists all came from this race.

Fairweather, who finished eighth in the 400m freestyle this morning, qualified in 14th position overall for the 200m semi-finals, which will be held tomorrow morning.

New Zealand also had two competitors in the women’s 1500m - making its debut on the Olympic schedule - Eve Thomas and Hayley McIntosh, and they both drew the second of the five heats.

Thomas swam 16min 29.66, which was six seconds slower than her entry time, while McIntosh recorded 16.44.43s, more than 15 seconds slower than her entry time. With only the top eight swimmers to progress to the final, a sub-16minute time or close to it was required to advance. Thomas' time placed her 26th of the 33 starters and McIntosh was 31st.