Palmerston North Swim Club
Manawatū–Whanganui · North Island
A typical Palmerston North swimmer in 2026 so far, stroke by stroke: faster than … of every 100 swimmers of the same age and gender in New Zealand. 50 is typical.
* Swimmers are those who raced at a meet in Swimming New Zealand’s results; club members who did not race are not counted.
Who raced for Palmerston North?
57 swimmers raced for Palmerston North in 2026 so far. Each has a page of their own.
Do they get faster?
Of 41 swimmers in both years, 33 in 100 gained more points than is typical for swimmers of the same age, gender and level a year before, clearly fewer than half; a typical gain of +31 points; swimmer by swimmer, typically 16 points fewer than them.
Each swimmer’s gain in best points* since the same months of 2025, at each age with 5 or more of them, set beside New Zealand swimmers of the same age, gender and level a year before - level meaning the same quarter of best points for their age and gender then.
Columns: the typical gain in points at each age. Over them: points beyond swimmers of the same age, gender and level a year before - more, fewer, grey where not clear.
| Age | Swimmers | Typical gain, points | Beyond swimmers of the same age, gender and level a year before, points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 9 | 5 | 44 | −12 |
| 11 | 6 | 32 | −21 |
| 12 | 5 | 70 | +12 |
| 14 | 5 | 41 | −9 |
Source: Swimming New Zealand results, 1 Jan to 10 Nov 2026 against the same months of 2025 · n = 41 swimmers
Who stays with Palmerston North?
74 in 100 Palmerston North swimmers from the same months of 2025 raced for Palmerston North again this year, more than the 64 in 100 typical for swimmers of the same age.
Swimmers of 1 Jan to 10 Nov 2025, per 100: whether they raced for Palmerston North in the same months of 2026.
| Swimmers of 2025 | Per 100 |
|---|---|
| Raced for Palmerston North | 74 |
| Raced for another club | 0 |
| No race this year | 26 |
Source: Swimming New Zealand results, 1 Jan to 10 Nov 2025 and 2026 · n = 57 swimmers of 2025
Where do Palmerston North swimmers come from, and go?
37 swimmers joined Palmerston North from another club and 11 left for one, 2016 to 2026; the most came from Dannevirke (10), the most went to Ice Breaker Aquatics (5).
Swimmers who raced for one club in a year and for another the next; each band as wide as the number who moved, and the clubs stand in the same order on both sides. Clubs with fewer than 3 moves are together as “other clubs”.
| Club | Came | Went |
|---|---|---|
| Ice Breaker Aquatics | 6 | 5 |
| Dannevirke | 10 | – |
| Levin | 8 | – |
| Breakers | 6 | – |
| Kiwi West Aquatics | 3 | – |
| Other clubs | 4 | 6 |
Source: Swimming New Zealand results, 1 Jan to 10 Nov of every year 2016 to 2026, each year against the year before · n = 48 moves
Who is still racing for Palmerston North years later?
Of Palmerston North swimmers of a year, 62 in 100 raced for Palmerston North again the next year and 40 in 100 two years on; swimmers of the same age and gender across New Zealand: 65 in 100 and 43 in 100.
Swimmers of each year since 2016 (1 Jan to 10 Nov): the share with a club race for Palmerston North one, two, three… years on, in the same months. Peers are New Zealand swimmers of the same start year, age and gender.
Years on, per 100 swimmers of the start year.
| one year on | two years on | three years on | four years on | five years on | six years on | seven years on | eight years on | nine years on | ten years on | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Palmerston North | 62 | 40 | 26 | 17 | 13 | 8 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 2 |
| Same age and gender across New Zealand | 65 | 43 | 29 | 19 | 12 | 7 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
Source: Swimming New Zealand results, 1 Jan to 10 Nov of every year 2016 to 2026 · n = 579 swimmer-years one year on
How has Palmerston North changed over the years?
57 swimmers raced for Palmerston North in 2026 so far (1 Jan to 10 Nov): 12% fewer than in the same months of 2016 and 84% more than in 2020, the fewest; as many as in 2025; the most were in 2017 (94); across New Zealand, 5% fewer than in 2016.
Swimmers with at least one race for Palmerston North from 1 Jan to 10 Nov of each year.
| Year | Swimmers |
|---|---|
| 2016 | 65 |
| 2017 | 94 |
| 2018 | 58 |
| 2019 | 52 |
| 2020 | 31 |
| 2021 | 51 |
| 2022 | 48 |
| 2023 | 67 |
| 2024 | 56 |
| 2025 | 57 |
| 2026 | 57 |
Source: Swimming New Zealand results, 1 Jan to 10 Nov of every year 2016 to 2026
Who joined Palmerston North, and who left?
57 swimmers raced for Palmerston North in 2026, against 57 in 2025 (1 Jan to 10 Nov): 42 stayed, 15 left (15 stopped racing, 0 raced for other clubs); 15 joined: 13 new to racing, 0 from other clubs, 2 back after a break.
Swimmers with a race for Palmerston North in the same months of each year (1 Jan to 10 Nov), set beside the year before.
Source: Swimming New Zealand results, 1 Jan to 10 Nov of every year 2016 to 2026
How fast are they for their age?
A typical Palmerston North swimmer is faster than 23 of every 100 swimmers of the same age and gender across New Zealand. Yet they overlap: 26 in 100 of them are faster than New Zealand’s typical swimmer of their age.
Peers are New Zealand swimmers of the same age and gender, compared by the World Aquatics points of their best race (one scale for every stroke and distance; 1,000 is about world-record speed).
| Faster than … of 100 | |
|---|---|
| A typical Palmerston North swimmer | 23 |
| A typical New Zealand swimmer | 50 |
Source: Swimming New Zealand results, 1 Jan to 10 Nov 2026 · each set beside New Zealand swimmers of the same age and gender · n = 56 swimmers with points
How does Palmerston North compare with other clubs?
It is 97th of 106 clubs in New Zealand for how fast its swimmers are for their age and 56th of 59 clubs of 25 to 99 swimmers (8th of 8 in Manawatū–Whanganui).
Places count clubs with at least 5 swimmers in the period, highest value first; equal values share a place.
Places
| Palmerston North | In NZ | Clubs of 25 to 99 |
|---|---|---|
| Faster than … of 100 peers23 of 100 | 97th of 106 | 56th of 59 |
| Swimmers57 | 44th of 106 | 26th of 59 |
| Kept, beyond their age+10 in 100 | 25th of 104 | 15th of 59 |
| Gained more than their peers33 in 100 | 80th of 100 | 50th of 59 |
| Under a NZ Age Group time1 | 65th of 105 | 43rd of 58 |
Where are they strongest?
Beside swimmers of the same age and gender, Palmerston North swimmers rank highest in breaststroke (faster than 29 of every 100) and lowest in medley (20); by distance, they stand lowest at 400 m and longer (11).
Each stroke and distance sets a swimmer’s best race in it against the best of New Zealand swimmers of the same age and gender who raced it; 50 is the typical swimmer. Faded bars are not clearly different from 50, or have too few swimmers to tell.
By stroke
By distance
| Faster than … of 100 | Swimmers | |
|---|---|---|
| Freestyle | 23 | 56 |
| Backstroke | 24 | 44 |
| Breaststroke | 29 | 48 |
| Butterfly | 22 | 28 |
| Medley | 20 | 41 |
| 50 m | 23 | 54 |
| 100–200 m | 21 | 52 |
| 400 m and longer | 11 | 25 |
Source: Swimming New Zealand results, 1 Jan to 10 Nov 2026 · each stroke and distance against peers who raced it · n = 56 swimmers with points
How many swim national qualifying times?
1 of 15 Palmerston North swimmers aged 13 to 16 swam at least one race faster than the 2026 NZ Age Group qualifying time for their age, less than the 34 in 100 typical for swimmers of the same age and gender.
Swimmers aged 13 to 16, per 100, with a race faster than the qualifying time for their age, gender, event and pool, beside New Zealand swimmers of the same age and gender.
| Per 100 | |
|---|---|
| Palmerston North | 7 |
| Swimmers of the same age and gender | 34 |
Source: Swimming New Zealand results, 1 Jan to 10 Nov 2026 · age at the last race · n = 15 swimmers aged 13 to 16
Where did Palmerston North race?
Palmerston North swimmers raced at 34 meets in 2026 so far.
The latest threeEvery meet
Did Palmerston North swimmers race at school meets?
10 swimmers from Palmerston North swam 77 races at 3 school meets in 2026 so far.
School meets are entered for schools, not clubs: a school race counts for the club the swimmer raced for before and after the meet, or in the three months before it when there is nothing after yet. They count in how fast the club’s swimmers were, never as races for the club.
How old are the swimmers?
3 in 5 swimmers are 10 to 14 years old; across New Zealand, nearly 2 in 3.
Number of swimmers by age at their last race in 2026 so far; 34 of the 57 are 10 to 14 years old.
| Age | Swimmers |
|---|---|
| 8 and under | 6 |
| 9 | 6 |
| 10 | 9 |
| 11 | 10 |
| 12 | 6 |
| 13 | 4 |
| 14 | 5 |
| 15 | 4 |
| 16 | 2 |
| 17 | 1 |
| 18 and over | 4 |
Source: Swimming New Zealand results, 1 Jan to 10 Nov 2026 · n = 57 swimmers
How often do they race?
A typical swimmer raced 26 times, at 6 meets; swimmers of the same age across New Zealand raced 15 times.
Number of swimmers by the number of races they swam in 2026 so far; typical is the median.
| Races | Swimmers |
|---|---|
| 1 to 10 | 15 |
| 11 to 20 | 11 |
| 21 to 30 | 6 |
| 31 to 40 | 5 |
| 41 to 50 | 5 |
| 51 or more | 15 |
Source: Swimming New Zealand results, 1 Jan to 10 Nov 2026 · n = 57 swimmers
When do Palmerston North swimmers race?
The busiest day in 2026 so far was 22 May, with 518 races; all told, 1,875 races and about 223 km of racing.
Each cell is a week of 2026, from the first of January; the darker, the more races. Empty cells are weeks without a race; the outline fades for weeks still to come.
| Week | Races |
|---|---|
| 1 | 0 |
| 2 | 0 |
| 3 | 0 |
| 4 | 0 |
| 5 | 144 |
| 6 | 66 |
| 7 | 43 |
| 8 | 120 |
| 9 | 58 |
| 10 | 19 |
| 11 | 54 |
| 12 | 16 |
| 13 | 107 |
| 14 | 0 |
| 15 | 0 |
| 16 | 0 |
| 17 | 47 |
| 18 | 0 |
| 19 | 26 |
| 20 | 0 |
| 21 | 518 |
| 22 | 78 |
| 23 | 39 |
| 24 | 10 |
| 25 | 5 |
| 26 | 52 |
| 27 | 0 |
| 28 | 0 |
| 29 | 0 |
| 30 | 56 |
| 31 | 0 |
| 32 | 64 |
| 33 | 29 |
| 34 | 11 |
| 35 | 46 |
| 36 | 0 |
| 37 | 54 |
| 38 | 0 |
| 39 | 0 |
| 40 | 0 |
| 41 | 86 |
| 42 | 53 |
| 43 | 0 |
| 44 | 69 |
| 45 | 5 |
Source: Swimming New Zealand results, 1 Jan to 10 Nov 2026 · n = 1,875 races
How much slower is the second half?
A typical Palmerston North swimmer swims the second half of a race 9% slower than the first, about the same as the 10% typical for swimmers of the same age and gender in the same events.
Each swimmer’s typical race of 100 m or more in one stroke, beside New Zealand swimmers of the same age and gender in the same event and pool. The first half holds the start, so even an evenly swum race has a slower second half.
| % slower | |
|---|---|
| Palmerston North | 9% |
| Swimmers of the same age and gender | 10% |
Source: Swimming New Zealand results, 1 Jan to 10 Nov 2026 · with the halfway split recorded in a race of 100 m or more · n = 10 swimmers