The Neptune swimmer won his second national title in as many days, securing the men’s 100m backstroke with 55.23sec in Auckland last night.
He finished 0.2sec ahead of silver medallist Zac Dell (Club 37) in a tight race, and Jasper Cornish (Coast) claimed bronze in 55.95sec.
It was always going to be tough for the Olympian backing up after just missing the world championships qualifying time for the 200m backstroke on Thursday night.
But Follows, humble as ever, was still proud of his performance.
"Obviously you always want to go faster," Follows told commentators.
"I’d say the hardest race is the race after missing a team or missing a time.
"To go out there and win it, that’s all I really wanted to do tonight."
The Dunedin swimmer had a big battle against Olympic team-mate Eve Thomas (Coast) and they pushed each other all the way, with Thomas snagging silver in 4min 08.05sec.
Former Dunedin swimmer Erika Fairweather cruised home in her specialist event to be crowned the national champion yet again in 4min 03.06sec.
All three swam under the qualifying time of 4min 10.23sec for the world championships in Singapore later this year.
It is the second medal — and second world qualifying mark — for Deans this week, after scoring silver in the women’s 800m freestyle on the opening night.
Neptune’s Emilia Finer finished sixth in the 400m in 4min 23.92sec.
Kiwi swimmer Alfie Weatherston-Harvey finished sixth in the men’s 400m freestyle in 4min 0705sec.
The championships wrap up tomorrow.
