A record-breaking 37 domestic Para swimmers are set to compete at the 2026 New Zealand Swimming Championships at the Sir Owen G. Glenn National Aquatic Centre in Auckland this week (13-17 May).
And with a further 15 overseas Para swimmers (12 from Australia and three from Japan) present, Aotearoa New Zealand will be treated to a high-class international Para swimming competition.
For a second successive year the New Zealand Swimming Championships has attracted record Para swimming entries, rising from the 33 who competed at the 2025 edition.
For Paralympian #164 Cameron Leslie MNZM, who works as Disability and Para swimming Participation Manager for Swimming NZ, the figures showcase the health of Para swimming in Aotearoa New Zealand.
“We’ve enjoyed steady growth for a few years, and, in my view, it has come about because of a better pathway alignment,” explains Cam. “The New Zealand age-group championships were never offered to Para athletes until 2021 and five years down the line we are seeing that those Para swimmers have matured into senior competition.
“Beyond that, we are very clear on our performance pathway. We have set the standard to make World Series teams, World Championships and other pinnacle events. That alongside the growth in numbers at national age group level and the clubs growing more confident developing Para swimmers has contributed to the good numbers.”
Cam, the three-time Paralympic champion, is also delighted at the excellent overseas representation at the 2026 New Zealand Swimming Championships – with the trio of top-class Japanese Para swimmers, joined by a dozen Australians he describes as development or “fringe World Championship level” performers – bolstering the standard of competition.
“We do not put up any barriers and adopt an inclusive approach to make it a meaningful swimming meet,” he explains. “Some events will have three or four heats which is unheard of for Para swimming at nationals, when typically, we have one or two heats per event.
“We have previously acknowledged a gap on our development pathway for our domestic Para swimmers in that when they compete overseas for the first time, some can be overwhelmed by the quality that they face. Hopefully by being exposed to this level of competition, where they will face good quality international opposition, it will help them more easily make that adjustment.”
From a personal perspective, Cam, who competes in the Men’s 50m Freestyle, Men’s 50m Backstroke and Men’s 100m Freestyle at nationals, is also really excited by the level of competition he faces. Up against Japan’s three-time Paralympic champion Takayuki Suzuki, his long-time S4 rival and friend, and Suzuki’s countryman high-quality S5 Paralympian Eigo Tanaka, the Men’s 100m Freestyle will deliver the test he craves.
“With my swimming hat on, I have to turn up, race my three races and pull the trigger in the morning heats just to make the final later that evening. For me, the quality of the event is as good as a World Series event.”
Yet beyond his personal goals from the perspective of his day job for Swimming NZ, he is elated at the growth of Para swimming in Aotearoa New Zealand.
“We talk a lot in sport development about what the future might look like, and it is nice to see that come to fruition,” explains Cam. “The vision we had back in 2020 was to have 100 domestic Para swimmers and for 30 to 40 percent of them to compete at the national championships, and to achieve that is great. The vision for the next three to four years is to have 50+ domestic Para swimmers at nationals and given the steady growth we have experienced that is absolutely viable.”
***For more information on the 2026 New Zealand Swimming Championships including livestream details go here.
***For livestream info go here.
