Annika Bokor, 12 October 2026
Neo adds another national title and breaks records at short course nationals
Neo finished his national racing year on a high, adding another New Zealand national title to his achievements before the start of his exams.
Having already won the 50 m and 100 m butterfly national titles at long course nationals earlier in the year, he won the 50 m butterfly title in the 17–18 age group at short course nationals over the school break. He also won silver medals in both the 100 m and 200 m butterfly, including silver in the Open 200 m butterfly final.
Neo had two outstanding 50 m butterfly swims, breaking both his own Otago 17-year-old age-group record and the Otago Open (19+) record in his morning age-group final, before lowering both records again in the evening Open final. His final time of 24.18 seconds was just 0.19 seconds off the New Zealand age-group record. He finished fourth overall in the Open event, competing against swimmers in their twenties.
He also achieved a personal best of 53.46 seconds in the 100 m butterfly final and swam an impressive 2:00.38 in the Open 200 m butterfly final, coming very close to breaking the two-minute barrier. Outside his main events, Neo qualified for the top 10 age-group finals in both the 100 m individual medley and 50 m freestyle, improving his personal bests by 1.3 and 0.6 seconds respectively.
It was a fantastic way to finish a successful year of national racing, with three national titles across the long and short course seasons, multiple medals, record-breaking swims and several personal bests. After his exams, Neo will head to Australia with the NZ Swimming Olympic Pathway team for a training camp before competing against Australian and other international swimmers at the Queensland state championships.
Photo credits: Swimming NZ and BW Media
