Despite missing out on a medal in the women's 200m freestyle final this morning Erika Fairweather says she was pleased with her effort in the Paris pool.
Fairweather finished seventh with a time of 1:55:59 - having set out from lane one after qualifying for the race in seventh as well.
It was a strong effort from Fairweather, finishing just off a personal best time.
“Everything went according to plan. I put together a race I’m happy with," she said after the race.
"I couldn’t be more stoked.”
Fairweather won a silver medal in the 200m freestyle at the World Championships in Doha earlier this year with a time of 1:55.49.
But in Paris it was Australia’s Molly O’Callaghan taking gold and her compatriot Ariarne Titmus silver. Hong Kong’s Haughey Siobhan Bernadette won bronze.
It comes after the Dunedin swimmer finished fourth in the heavily anticipated women's 400m freestyle final on Monday - the race that was dubbed the race of the century.
It featured world champion Fairweather, Tokyo Gold medallist and world record holder Ariane Titmus, teen sensation and former world record holder Summer McIntosh and Olympic legend Katie Ledecky.
There's only five swimmers in the world who have broken the 4 minute mark in the women's 400m freestyle race and those four are the only active swimmers.
The race saw Titmus win gold, McIntosh silver, Ledecky bronze and Fairweather off the podium in fourth.
Fairweather still has the 4x200m freestyle relay and 800m freestyle to come.
New Zealand's other big medal hope yesterday was Lewis Clareburt, but he was unable to pull out the performance he had hoped for in the men's 400m individual medley.
"I'm disappointed, I knew that I was a better swimmer than that today," Clareburt told 1News after the final.
"There's no second chances here and I wasn't able to execute the race that I wanted to and sixth is the final result unfortunately."
Clareburt felt he was in the hunt for New Zealand's first swimming medal at the games in nearly 30 years. In the first few hundred metres Clareburt was sitting in fifth position but in the breaststroke his race plan fell apart.
"I wasn't able to get the rhythm that I like, and then in the freestyle I was hoping I would have a lot left in the tank to be able to bring it home."
Clareburt went into the race as the current world champion but finished 2 seconds off the podium.
The race was dominated by French favourite and world record holder Leon Marchand who ended up breaking Michael Phelps' Olympic record. The grandstands echoed to the chanting of "allez, allez" as Marchand powered to his first victory.
Among the fans was Clareburt's family who told 1News how proud they are of Clareburt being the sixth fastest in the world.
The results mean NZ's long wait for an Olympic medal in the pool continues - Danyon Loader in 1996 was the last Kiwi to stand on the podium.
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