The Neptune swimmer could hardly contain his emotion after swimming an Olympic qualifying time and setting a national record in the men’s 200m backstroke at the national championships in Hawke’s Bay last night.
Follows, 26, swam a personal best of 1min 57.13sec, going under the Olympic qualifying time (1min 57.50sec) by 00.37sec and bettering the New Zealand record by 00.02sec set by Gareth Kean in 2012.
He finished ahead of Lewis Clareburt, who won silver in 1min 58.79sec, and Andrew Jeffcoat in bronze with 1min 59.37sec.
"I have no words," Follows told Swimming New Zealand after the race.
"Honestly . . . it’s been a grind. I’ve missed a lot of teams, but I’ve stuck at it. I’ve just given so much to this sport and it just feels so good to get a result.
"Sport is a lot of ups and downs, and it feels like I’ve had a lot more downs then ups, but it’s all worth it for that feeling."
Follows paid tribute to the many coaches he had in his career from Auckland to Otago, including Dunedin coach Lars Humer.
"Lars has really looked after me.
"I’m a little bit older now, so I can’t keep up with the young ones like I used to, so he really helps me out and I think we’ve just started to nail that.
"I just can’t wait to get back to work now — I’m so excited."
Erika Fairweather won silver in the women’s 100m freestyle with a personal best of 54.43sec.
Esme Paterson (2min 19.53sec) did well to re-group and win silver in the women’s 200m butterfly after the fire alarm went off at the Hawke’s Bay Aquatic Centre before her race was scheduled.
Kale Twist (Kiwi) finished fourth in the men’s 100m freestyle with 50.96sec.
