Erika Fairweather
Fast Facts
- Date of Birth: 31/12/2003
- Birthplace: Dunedin, New Zealand
- Nickname: Erik
- Sporting Idol: Serena Williams
- Favourite Quote: When the going gets tough, the tough get going.
- Biggest Challenge: Living in NZ can be hard as we don’t always have easy access to quality competition.
- Favourite Food: Big choc chip cookie fan
Swimming in the same pool as New Zealand swimming legend Danyon Loader, Erika was never short of inspiration while growing up.
From taking swimming lessons as a kid, Erika’s love for swimming grew. With her built-in competitiveness and natural ability a progression to racing at 10 years old simply seemed logical.
Erika's first taste of international racing came in 2018 with Junior Pan Pacific Championships and Youth Olympics taking place throughout the year. It was here she realized her love for international racing and decided she wanted to make a career out of swimming.
At 15 years old, Erika Fairweather won her first of many Open New Zealand titles, earning her a position as an Aquablack at the 2019 FINA World Championships in the 400m, 200m freestyle and 4x200m freestyle relay. During the same year she also competed at the Junior World Championships in Budapest becoming the 200m Freestyle Junior World Champion.
Fast forward two years and she was on the NZ Olympic team as their youngest member, finishing high school, and in the Olympic final for the 400m Freestyle. During her time in Tokyo Erika made her mark in her favoured event, breaking Lauren Boyles Open 400m Freestyle New Zealand record by over a second.
2022 brought Erika’s busiest year yet. With both the World Championships in Budapest and the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, a 10-week-long European shift was put in. From a 6th place finish at worlds to a poorly timed dose of covid, then 4th and 5th place finishes at the Commonwealth Games, her year was nothing short of a rollercoaster. Although a rollercoaster of a year, it led to many learning opportunities and provided valuable insight for improvements to come which she embraced eventuating in a Bronze medal at the World Championships in 2023.
Now Erika Fairweather is studying towards a Bachelor of Environmental Science while continuing to train towards her long-term swimming goals.
