Bradlee Ashby

Bradlee began his international racing career for New Zealand in 2013 competing at the Australian Youth Olympic Festival and also at the FINA World Junior Championships. 

 

In 2014 he competed at the Oceania Championships in New Zealand and the Junior Pan Pacific Championships in Hawaii where he won two bronze medals.

 

His first major international meet was the 16th FINA World Championships in Kazan, Russia in 2015, competing in the 100m and 200m butterfly, 200m individual medley and the men’s 4x100m individual medley relay (butterfly leg).

 

In 2016 he won the 200m backstroke and 200m individual medley at the New Zealand Open Championships, setting a New Zealand record in the heats of the 200m IM in a time of 1:59.76 which bettered the qualifying standard for the Rio Olympic Games.

 

In Rio Bradlee qualified 16th fastest for the semi-final of the 200m IM in 1:59.77 and was 14th in the semi-finals in 2:00.45. He also placed 29th in the 200m butterfly in 2:01.22.

 

For his achievements in 2016, Bradlee was named National Swimmer of the Year.

 

In 2017 Bradlee won the national titles in the 200m and 400m individual medley and 200m butterfly and was second in the 200m backstroke. His time of 1:59.54 in the 200m individual medley broke his own New Zealand record and qualified him for the 17th FINA World Championships.

 

At the 2017 FINA World Championships in Budapest, Bradlee set a New Zealand record on the way to his best performance of his young career so far. Ashby finished 13th fastest overall in the semi-finals of the 200m individual medley in a time of 1:59.24, which cut 0.3s off his own national record.

 

Bradlee is from Hamilton and studies at Massey University. He is currently training in Auckland as part of the Swimming New Zealand National Training Centre