* Swimmers are those who raced at a meet in Swimming New Zealand’s results; club members who did not race are not counted.
Which clubs swim in Otago?
12 clubs had swimmers in 2026 so far; the biggest was Neptune with 156 swimmers.
The five bars beside a club are freestyle, backstroke, breaststroke, butterfly and medley: the taller the bar, the faster its typical swimmer beside swimmers of the same age and gender; half height is typical.
Do they get faster?
Of 354 swimmers in both years, 40 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 +38 points; swimmer by swimmer, typically 8 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 8− | 6 | 43 | +6 |
| 9 | 9 | 36 | −6 |
| 10 | 38 | 30 | −13 |
| 11 | 68 | 36 | −12 |
| 12 | 62 | 39 | −9 |
| 13 | 62 | 67 | +12 |
| 14 | 38 | 40 | −12 |
| 15 | 26 | 34 | −1 |
| 16 | 20 | 25 | −6 |
| 17 | 11 | 15 | −16 |
| 18+ | 14 | -4 | +1 |
Source: Swimming New Zealand results, 1 Jan to 10 Nov 2026 against the same months of 2025 · n = 354 swimmers
Who keeps racing?
69 in 100 Otago swimmers from the same months of 2025 raced again this year, about the same as the 70 in 100 typical for swimmers of the same age.
Swimmers of 1 Jan to 10 Nov 2025, per 100: whether they raced in the same months of 2026.
| Swimmers of 2025 | Per 100 |
|---|---|
| Raced again | 69 |
| No race this year | 31 |
Source: Swimming New Zealand results, 1 Jan to 10 Nov 2025 and 2026 · n = 570 swimmers of 2025
Which Otago swimmers are still racing years later?
Of Otago swimmers of a year, 67 in 100 raced again the next year and 47 in 100 two years on; swimmers of the same age and gender across New Zealand: 70 in 100 and 52 in 100.
Swimmers of each year since 2016 (1 Jan to 10 Nov): the share with a club race 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 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Otago | 67 | 47 | 33 | 22 | 15 | 10 | 6 | 4 | 2 | 2 |
| Same age and gender across New Zealand | 70 | 52 | 38 | 27 | 20 | 13 | 9 | 6 | 3 | 2 |
Source: Swimming New Zealand results, 1 Jan to 10 Nov of every year 2016 to 2026 · n = 4,539 swimmer-years one year on
How has Otago changed over the years?
555 swimmers raced for a club in Otago in 2026 so far (1 Jan to 10 Nov): 10% more than in the same months of 2016 and 66% more than in 2021, the fewest; 3% fewer than in 2025; across New Zealand, 5% fewer than in 2016.
Swimmers with at least one race for a club in Otago from 1 Jan to 10 Nov of each year.
| Year | Swimmers |
|---|---|
| 2016 | 503 |
| 2017 | 493 |
| 2018 | 487 |
| 2019 | 461 |
| 2020 | 360 |
| 2021 | 335 |
| 2022 | 363 |
| 2023 | 448 |
| 2024 | 519 |
| 2025 | 570 |
| 2026 | 555 |
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 Otago swimmer is faster than 35 of every 100 swimmers of the same age and gender across New Zealand. Yet they overlap: 35 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 Otago swimmer | 35 |
| 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 = 501 swimmers with points
Where are they strongest?
Beside swimmers of the same age and gender, Otago swimmers rank highest in medley (faster than 39 of every 100) and lowest in butterfly (32); by distance, they stand highest at 400 m and longer (42).
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 | 35 | 480 |
| Backstroke | 34 | 403 |
| Breaststroke | 33 | 385 |
| Butterfly | 32 | 270 |
| Medley | 39 | 268 |
| 50 m | 34 | 492 |
| 100–200 m | 39 | 372 |
| 400 m and longer | 42 | 108 |
Source: Swimming New Zealand results, 1 Jan to 10 Nov 2026 · each stroke and distance against peers who raced it · n = 501 swimmers with points
How many swim national qualifying times?
21 in 100 Otago 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 30 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 | |
|---|---|
| Otago | 21 |
| Swimmers of the same age and gender | 30 |
Source: Swimming New Zealand results, 1 Jan to 10 Nov 2026 · age at the last race · n = 167 swimmers aged 13 to 16
How old are the swimmers?
Nearly 2 in 3 swimmers are 10 to 13 years old; across New Zealand, 56 in 100.
Number of swimmers by age at their last race in 2026 so far; 355 of the 555 are 10 to 13 years old.
| Age | Swimmers |
|---|---|
| 8 and under | 41 |
| 9 | 40 |
| 10 | 81 |
| 11 | 112 |
| 12 | 86 |
| 13 | 76 |
| 14 | 42 |
| 15 | 29 |
| 16 | 20 |
| 17 | 11 |
| 18 and over | 17 |
Source: Swimming New Zealand results, 1 Jan to 10 Nov 2026 · n = 555 swimmers
How often do they race?
A typical swimmer raced 10 times, at 3 meets; swimmers of the same age across New Zealand raced 18 times.
Number of swimmers by the number of races they swam in 2026 so far; typical is the median.
| Races | Swimmers |
|---|---|
| 1 to 10 | 280 |
| 11 to 20 | 92 |
| 21 to 30 | 62 |
| 31 to 40 | 55 |
| 41 to 50 | 26 |
| 51 or more | 40 |
Source: Swimming New Zealand results, 1 Jan to 10 Nov 2026 · n = 555 swimmers
When do Otago swimmers race?
The busiest day in 2026 so far was 31 May, with 399 races; all told, 10,072 races and about 1,100 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 | 9 |
| 3 | 0 |
| 4 | 53 |
| 5 | 5 |
| 6 | 78 |
| 7 | 559 |
| 8 | 76 |
| 9 | 503 |
| 10 | 33 |
| 11 | 924 |
| 12 | 291 |
| 13 | 464 |
| 14 | 20 |
| 15 | 93 |
| 16 | 589 |
| 17 | 0 |
| 18 | 600 |
| 19 | 15 |
| 20 | 139 |
| 21 | 0 |
| 22 | 758 |
| 23 | 138 |
| 24 | 191 |
| 25 | 71 |
| 26 | 175 |
| 27 | 87 |
| 28 | 0 |
| 29 | 46 |
| 30 | 341 |
| 31 | 0 |
| 32 | 720 |
| 33 | 62 |
| 34 | 0 |
| 35 | 633 |
| 36 | 156 |
| 37 | 503 |
| 38 | 140 |
| 39 | 181 |
| 40 | 25 |
| 41 | 169 |
| 42 | 245 |
| 43 | 391 |
| 44 | 0 |
| 45 | 589 |
Source: Swimming New Zealand results, 1 Jan to 10 Nov 2026 · n = 10,072 races
How much slower is the second half?
A typical Otago swimmer swims the second half of a race 9.5% slower than the first; swimmer by swimmer, they slow down typically 0.6% more than 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 | |
|---|---|
| Otago | 9.5% |
| Swimmers of the same age and gender | 9.4% |
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 = 216 swimmers