Erika Fairweather  has won a bronze medal in the women's 200m freestyle on day one of the Pan Pacific Swimming Championships in California, breaking her New Zealand record in the process.

She qualified second-fastest for the final behind Australian Lani Pallister.

In the final, Pallister and Canadian Summer McIntosh battled it out, with the Australian just pipping McIntosh to gold in a time of 1m 53.67s.

Fairweather, a finalist in the event at the 2024 Paris Olympics, came third with a time of 1m 55.05s.

Australia is without several of its biggest names including Mollie O'Callaghan, who won gold at the 2024 Paris Olympics in the 200m freestyle and gold at the recent Commonwealth Games.

Pallister won the silver medal in the 200m freestyle at the Glasgow Games, with Fairweather taking bronze.

From left: Summer McIntosh of Canada, Australian Lani Pallister and Erika Fairweather of New Zealand. Photo: Getty Images

McIntosh skipped the recent Commonwealth Games to ensure she was peaking for the Pan Pacs, which haven't been held since 2018 due to the event being disrupted by the Covid pandemic.

A 15-strong New Zealand team is at the Pan Pacific Swimming Championships, which brings together leading swimmers from the United States, Australia, Canada and Japan.

Kiwi double Glasgow gold medallist Lewis Clareburt came third in the men's 200m freestyle B final.

Clareburt will race in several events across the event including his favoured individual medley events.

In the women's 50m butterfly, Kiwi Zoe Pedersen made the A final where she finished 7th in a time of 26.45s.