The Dunedin duo, alongside team-mates Eve Thomas and Laticia Transom, became the first Kiwi women to compete in a women’s relay final at an Olympic Games.
They finished eighth in the women’s 4x200m freestyle relay in Paris, clocking in at 7min 55.89sec in a stacked final.
Making the final was a monumental moment for the New Zealand team, who were always in with an outside chance after building the relay team over the past few seasons.
"I’m so proud — I wouldn’t want it with any other girls," Fairweather told Sky Sport.
"I’m so proud of how we’ve gone about ourselves and what we’ve accomplished."
It was Fairweather’s third final of the Paris Games so far.
But for Deans it was her first final in her Olympic debut.
"Honestly, just making this team was like a dream come true for us and I think getting that finals spot was just so special," Deans said.
"To be with these girls is just awesome."
Mollie O’Callahan, Lani Pallister, Brianna Throssell and Ariarne Titmus, of Australia, won gold in 7min 38.08sec and sat an Olympic record in the process.
Claire Weinstein, Paige Madden, Katie Ledecky and Erin Gemmell, of the United States of America, won silver in 7min 40.86sec.
Junxuan Yang, Bingjie Li, Chutong Ge, and Yaxin Liu, of the people’s republic of China, won bronze in 7min 42.34sec.
Fellow New Zealander Lewis Clareburt finished seventh in the men’s 200m IM semifinal yesterday, finishing in 2min 00.06sec.
He failed to qualify for the final, bringing his Olympic campaign to a close.
Fairweather and Thomas were back in the pool last night in the women’s 800m freestyle heats.
Fairweather finished third in her heat in 8min22.22sec, a tick over 2sec behind winner Pallister, while Thomas was fifth in 8min 33.25sec in her heat, won by Ledecky in 8min 16.62sec.
Fellow Kiwi Cameron Gray was sixth in his men’s 100m butterfly heat last night in 53.83sec.
