Neo Salomonsson Secures Double NZ International Team Selection Following Strong NZ Open Campaign

By Annika Bokor | Posted: Thursday May 21, 2026

During Wānanga Week, Neo travelled to Auckland for his first New Zealand Open Championships, competing at senior level for the first time rather than within a single age-group.

At just 17, he embraced the challenge, targeting placings in the 17–18 age group while also testing himself against the open field. Qualifying heats were contested in the morning, while 17-18 age group (B) and Open (A) finals were raced in the evenings.

Although the physical maturity of older swimmers made the Open division a tough task, Neo held his own strongly within the 17-18 age group and focused his campaign on his best stroke, butterfly, to maximise selection opportunities for international teams.

He opened with the 100m butterfly, matching his personal best to claim the national title in the 17–18 age group and placing 4th in the Open final, just 1.68 seconds behind Olympian Lewis Clareburt. His 50m split of 25.18 also broke his own Otago age-group record in the 50m fly.

After a rest day (and schoolwork), he returned to the pool for the 200m butterfly. This is his least favoured event, and he finished 0.5 seconds outside his PB, but still claimed bronze in both the 17–18 and Open categories.

He finished strongly in the 50m butterfly, swimming 25.12 in the morning heats (again lowering his Otago age-group record) before producing a standout 24.62 in the evening final. This earned him another 17–18 national title, 6th in the Open division, and broke his own Otago age group record for the third time. This time also broke the Open Otago record with 0.19 seconds.

At the conclusion of the championships, after having met the qualification standards, Neo was named as part of the New Zealand Junior Pan Pacific (JPP) team. The JPP Championships are one of the world’s premier junior meets, featuring the strongest junior swimmers from nations such as the USA, Australia, Japan and Canada, with sprint events being particularly competitive. He will travel to Vancouver for a pre-competition training camp before racing at the championships in August.

Later the same week, he was also re-selected for the Tri-Series Black (Olympic pathway) team heading to Australia in July to compete against some of Australia’s strongest swimmers.

A special thank you to his teachers for their support during Wānanga Week and for assisting him while he catches up on schoolwork.

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