Lewis Clareburt believes you can’t beat Dunedin on a good day as well.
The world champion swimmer is sold on the city after making his first trip south for the Olympic team announcement this week.
Clareburt, who grew up in Wellington before recently relocating to Auckland, got the grand tour from Dunedin Olympic swimmers Erika Fairweather, Caitlin Deans and Kane Follows, watching the sunset from Lookout Point and visiting St Clair Beach the following day.
"I’ve actually been quite surprised about my Dunedin experience," Clareburt said.
"It was a tick from me."
"Seeing these guys qualify, it brought a bit of a tear to my eye when we were over [at nationals].
"Especially seeing Kane — I’ve raced Kane for a long period of time ... it was really cool to see him qualify and be there for his moment."
He described Follows — whom Clareburt had several nicknames for, from Volcano to Kane Train — as one of the nicest guys in swimming, and being able to travel as team-mates to Paris was exciting.
They raced against each other at the national championships last month — but that only made them better swimmers.
"He beat me in his main event in the 200m backstroke and I hated it," Clareburt said.
"At the end of the day, it’s so cool to be able to race each other.
"Especially in New Zealand, the community is quite small, and we don’t have as much depth as the rest of the world.
"To have those moments where Kane and I can race, or even Cam [Gray] and I race . . . is so special and you don’t get that often here in New Zealand."
Heading into the Olympics has a slightly different feel this time, especially after being crowned world champion in the 400m individual medley earlier this year.
But Clareburt, who will compete in the 200m and 400m IM and the 200m butterfly in Paris, did not see his new status as added pressure, more an opportunity.
"I don’t see myself as the guy that everyone is going out there to beat.
"I feel like there’s still another guy that I’m trying to beat sort of thing.
"It’s pressure, but it’s also an opportunity for me to actually have confidence."
Tokyo was marred by Covid — there were no crowds — and Clareburt will treat Paris as a "completely different atmosphere".
"I’ve got a French guy in my main event, so I know when I’m walking out there I’m either going to be booed or there’s going to be too much noise to even care about me.
"It’s going to be really exciting to be able to be a part of that."
Clareburt (Waikato-Tainui) is known for his pukana celebrations — and promised to bring that to the Olympics.
"I think that part of being a New Zealand team athlete is bringing the culture to the world. People love it.
"We are New Zealand and the fact that the rest of the world loves our Maori culture is awesome.
"For sure, I’m going to be repping it on the world stage if I can."
