Photography: Phillip Castleton.
Georgia Frawley often forgets that her partner of seven years, Lewis Clareburt, is a champion Kiwi swimmer. That is, until she arrives home late from work to find him asleep in their inner-city Melbourne apartment and is suddenly hit by the overwhelming odour of chlorine.
“For someone who doesn’t swim, it’s a profound smell, especially when he’s sweating in his sleep!” she laughs.
Arriving in Glasgow this month, Wellington-born Lewis, 26, is set to compete for New Zealand in his third Commonwealth Games, just months after moving across the ditch to train with fellow medley specialists under renowned swim coach Jolyon Finck.
Not an easy decision
He admits broaching the decision with his Aussie girlfriend – who shifted to Wellington in 2022 to join him – wasn’t a tough call.
“I knew Georgia would have better career opportunities in Melbourne than New Zealand,” says Lewis, chatting to Woman’s Day on a Sunday morning before they head down to the local market for pastries.
“But she’d just found her feet in Wellington, had a good group of friends and was flatting with my sister Amelia, so to then ask her to pack up again was a bit daunting.”
“Oh, it wasn’t a hard sell,” insists Queensland-born Georgia, 25, a financial analyst.
“For professional development, Melbourne made sense. I wouldn’t follow Lew around if it meant putting my career on the backburner.”
Starting from scratch
While it’s been a relatively easy move, the most stressful thing has been setting their life up “completely from scratch” again, says Lewis, who won two golds and a bronze at the last Commonwealth Games, and is a former 400m individual medley world champion. “We came across with a couple of suitcases and luckily found a small furnished apartmentin Southbank, but it’s hard making it feel like home.”
However, with High Performance Sport NZ supporting his shift to Oz by paying his training fees, Lewis is delighted by his progress.
“We’ve created a Southern Hemisphere medley squad, which is going really well so far. For four years, I hadn’t come anywhere near my personal best in the 400m medley and I’m now within half a second of it. Funnily enough, I’m also winning in our squad’s AFL Fantasy league – and I didn’t know anything about AFL until six months ago!”
Aiming for gold
Lewis is rigorously preparing to compete in four events at the Games – the 200m individual medley, 400m individual medley, 200m butterfly and 200m freestyle, having smashed the New Zealand record for the latter earlier this year.
He currently spends 22 hours a week in the pool at the Melbourne Sports and Aquatic Centre, jokingly referring to himself as the “elder statesman” of the Kiwi team.
He grins, “I’ve been the oldest male in the past couple of years, but now Carter Swift has rejoined and he’s six months older than me!”
Lewis, who is of Waikato Tainui descent, is also proud to be one of a small number of Māori who have represented the country in swimming and wants to connect with his whakapapa more in the future.
“We used to go to Raglan every year as kids, but never visited my marae there, so I’d like to go back and visit one day,” says Lewis.
“Being able to represent my culture on the world stage is pretty cool and I love that our team travels with a big team pounamu – everyone touches it and puts their mana on it, and you also take mana from it.”
His biggest supporters
Lewis is looking forward to being cheered on by his family and meeting his baby nephew Arthur while in Scotland.
“I’m a newly minted uncle!” he enthuses.
“My older sister Ali has just had Arthur and I think he’s already got a passport, so I’m pretty excited to meet him.”
Sadly, however, the swimming superstar won’t have Georgia poolside in Europe as she’s unable to take leave from her job at an investment bank.
The pair can’t believe that after meeting as teens in 2019 – Lewis was on a training camp in the Gold Coast while she was home from university holidays – theirs has turned into a long-lasting relationship.
“Neither of us thought from that first date we’d still be together seven years later,” marvels Lewis.
“I had no car, but I wanted to meet up with Georgia, so I borrowed my mate’s one, which was a manual, and I had to learn how to drive a stick shift on the go!”
Distance makes the heart grow fonder
A long-distance relationship ensued, before Georgia decided to move to Wellington after graduation.
She shares, “I don’t remember it being a hard decision to move countries to be with Lew. I thought, ‘I’m young, I can take a risk and I have a decent job.’ I figured if it didn’t work out, it was just a short flight back across the Tasman.”
They agree it’s also been a case of opposites attract.
“Lew is a very organised person who is a bit neurotic about having things a certain way,” laughs Georgia.
“He’s quite proper about making sure things are in order around the house.”
Meanwhile, Lewis says he loves that Georgia is as family-oriented as he is.
“Her family is so awesome and she loves mine. Georgia is someone who knows what she wants and I appreciate that. I have my own journey, she has hers and we’re supportive of each other pursuing our goals.
“I work in a four-year cycle, so my plan ends at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics. I might keep going or decide that’s enough, but I’ll keep going as long as I love it.”
