The Most Famous

SWIMMERS from New Zealand

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This page contains a list of the greatest New Zealander Swimmers. The pantheon dataset contains 709 Swimmers, 6 of which were born in New Zealand. This makes New Zealand the birth place of the 35th most number of Swimmers behind Czechia, and Belgium.

Top 6

The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the most legendary New Zealander Swimmers of all time. This list of famous New Zealander Swimmers is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography’s online popularity.

Photo of Amini Fonua

1. Amini Fonua (b. 1989)

With an HPI of 27.17, Amini Fonua is the most famous New Zealander Swimmer.  His biography has been translated into 14 different languages on wikipedia.

Amini Tuitavake Britteon Fonua (born 14 December 1989) is a Tongan competitive swimmer.

Photo of Lewis Clareburt

2. Lewis Clareburt (b. 1999)

With an HPI of 23.16, Lewis Clareburt is the 2nd most famous New Zealander Swimmer.  His biography has been translated into 14 different languages.

Lewis Clareburt (born 4 July 1999) is a New Zealand swimmer. He is the current 2024 400m Individual Medley World Champion (4:09.72) and Commonwealth men's champion for 200 metre butterfly and 400 metre individual medley, having won both events at the 2022 Commonwealth Games. At the 2018 Commonwealth Games and the 2019 World Aquatics Championships, he won bronze medals in the men's 400 m individual medley. He swam in the 2020 International Swim League, competing for the New York Breakers. He is coached by Mitch Nairn at Club 37, Auckland. In the second ISL season overall Lewis competed for the US-based swim team – New York Breakers. Lewis has also been a proud and active member of Lyall Bay Surf Lifesaving Club.

Photo of Erika Fairweather

3. Erika Fairweather (b. 2003)

With an HPI of 21.68, Erika Fairweather is the 3rd most famous New Zealander Swimmer.  Her biography has been translated into 13 different languages.

Erika Fairweather (born 31 December 2003) is a New Zealand swimmer who competed at the 2019 World Aquatics Championships and the 2020 Summer Olympics. Fairweather was born in Dunedin, She is of mixed European and Māori descent, affiliating with Ngāi Tahu iwi. She attended Kavanagh College and was head girl in 2021. In 2018 she competed at both the 2018 Summer Youth Olympics and the 2018 Junior Pan Pacific Games. In August 2019, Fairweather won the gold medal in the 200 metres freestyle at the World Junior Swimming Championships in Budapest, Hungary, breaking her own New Zealand age-group record with a time of 1:57.96. She finished fourth in the final of the 400 metres, again breaking her own national age-group record with a time of 4:08.78. At the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, Fairweather finished second in her heat of the 400 metres freestyle, breaking the New Zealand record (set by Lauren Boyle in 2012), with a time of 4:02.28. At the 2023 World Aquatics Championships she finished third in the 400m freestyle in the 'race of the century', breaking her New Zealand record with a time of 3:59.59.

Photo of Janja Šegel

4. Janja Šegel (b. 2001)

With an HPI of 15.83, Janja Šegel is the 4th most famous New Zealander Swimmer.  Her biography has been translated into 5 different languages.

Janja Šegel (born 17 June 2001) is a Slovenian swimmer. She competed on the Slovenian team in the women's 4 × 200 metre freestyle relay event at the 2016 Summer Olympics.

Photo of Kirsten Fisher-Marsters

5. Kirsten Fisher-Marsters (b. 1998)

With an HPI of 11.25, Kirsten Fisher-Marsters is the 5th most famous New Zealander Swimmer.  Her biography has been translated into 5 different languages.

Kirsten Andrea Fisher-Marsters (born 11 February 1998) is a Cook Islands swimmer. She competed in the women's 100 metre breaststroke at the 2020 Summer Olympics. Born in New Zealand, she is able to represent the Cook Islands through her father.

Photo of Zac Reid

6. Zac Reid (b. 2000)

With an HPI of 4.95, Zac Reid is the 6th most famous New Zealander Swimmer.  His biography has been translated into 4 different languages.

Zac Reid (born 28 January 2000) is a New Zealand swimmer. He competed in the men's 400 metre freestyle at the 2019 World Aquatics Championships, and the 2020 Summer Olympics. At the games, Reid won his heat in the Men's 800m free, breaking his own New Zealand record in the process and finishing 18th out of 34. He also competed in the 400m free, where he placed 23 out of 36. He earned the 2020 Taranaki Swimmer of the Year award and picked up a record fourth victory in the Flannagan Cup ocean swim in February 2021. Reid was named overall 2021 Taranaki Sportsperson of the Year at the Taranaki Sports Awards. Following a bout of COVID-19, Reid decided not to compete at the 2022 Commonwealth Games but instead focus on his recovery and work towards the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris.

People

Pantheon has 6 people classified as New Zealander swimmers born between 1989 and 2003. Of these 6, 6 (100.00%) of them are still alive today. The most famous living New Zealander swimmers include Amini Fonua, Lewis Clareburt, and Erika Fairweather. As of April 2024, 6 new New Zealander swimmers have been added to Pantheon including Amini Fonua, Lewis Clareburt, and Erika Fairweather.

Living New Zealander Swimmers

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Newly Added New Zealander Swimmers (2024)

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