Commonwealth Games: Erika Fairweather wins NZ's first medal of the 2026 Games, silver in the women's 400m freestyle

New Zealand's medal campaign at the 2026 Commonwealth Games is underway after swimmers Erika Fairweather and Lewis Clareburt claimed the country's first podium finishes with a pair of silver medals on the opening night of finals in Glasgow.Fairweather collected the first medal of the Glasgow Games for New Zealand with silver in the women's 400m freestyle, before Clareburt backed it up minutes later with a thrilling runner-up finish in a gripping final of the men's 200m individual medley.Australia's Lani Pallister dominated the women's 400m freestyle, pulling away over the closing stages to win in 3m 59.56a. Fairweather finished second in 4m 2.65s, more than three seconds behind, having stayed in touch with the Australian through the opening 300m before fading over the final 100m."It was definitely to stay as close to her as possible," Fairweather said of her race plan."It wasn't my best performance today, but you can't be mad with the outcome that I got."Fairweather appeared disappointed with her performance in her favoured event.Michael Steele/Getty ImagesDespite appearing frustrated after the race, Fairweather said finally winning a Commonwealth Games medal after missing the podium in Birmingham four years ago was a special moment."I was gutted last time when I didn't get one, to know I'm going home with one in my suitcase now is super special."New Zealand teammates Caitlin Deans and Eve Thomas also featured in the final, finishing sixth and eighth respectively.Clareburt then produced one of the races of the night, storming home over the freestyle leg to claim silver behind Scotland's Duncan Scott in front of a vocal home crowd.Scott successfully defended his Commonwealth title in a Games record time of 1m 56.38s, with Clareburt touching second after sitting third at the final turn before producing a blistering finish. England's Tom Dean claimed bronze in 1m 57.22a.The silver was Clareburt's fifth Commonwealth Games medal, adding to the two gold medals and bronze he won in Birmingham in 2022, as well as bronze on the Gold Coast in 2018.More importantly for the 26-year-old, the performance delivered a long-awaited personal milestone."The medal didn't mean as much to me as the time," Clareburt said."To be able to do a personal best on this stage is such a good feeling. I've been on the 1.57 mark for eight years, so to dip under that today and to get a silver on top is a cool feeling."Clareburt finished second to local favourite Duncan Scott, and England's Tom Dean.Michael Steele/Getty ImagesClareburt admitted he had little idea where he was positioned over the closing stages of the race."To be honest I was breathing the wrong way and I couldn't see anyone. I knew that I was probably going to be close and I sort of had a glimpse and at some point I saw the TV, and all I could see was blue, which was what Duncan was wearing, so I knew he was ahead, but I had no idea where I was."He also had no idea Fairweather had already opened New Zealand's medal tally."I didn't know what Erika had done. The TV in the call room wasn't working, so we didn't know how the girls had gone. So that's great - a good start!"