Cameron Gray had always dreamed of representing his country at the Olympic Games. This dream will become a reality at Paris 2024, when Gray races the 100m freestyle.

Gray started his swimming journey at North Shore Swimming and was a consistently strong performer in his age group. Throughout this time, he was selected to represent New Zealand at the Australian State Teams Championships in 2018 and 2019, gaining his first taste of racing internationally. To this day, he still holds six national age records across the sprint backstroke, butterfly, and freestyle events.

In his later teenage years, Gray was coached by Andy McMillan, Aquablack #208 and Olympian, which aided his development as an athlete.

2022 was a breakout year for Gray, who burst onto his first pinnacle international teams after qualifying for the 2022 FINA World Aquatics Championships and Commonwealth Games at eighteen years of age.

Before the World Championships, Gray competed at all three stops of the 2022 Mare Nostrum circuit, where he gained valuable experience racing against some of the world's elite swimmers. Gray made his Aquablack debut at the World Championships in Budapest, contesting the 50m butterfly and 200m freestyle, with a best finish of 35th place in the former event.

A month later, Gray made a name for himself on the international stage by winning the bronze medal in the 50m Butterfly at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham. Racing out of lane one, Gray timed the race to perfection by out-touching fourth place by just one-hundredth of a second. With a time of 23.27, Gray reset the New Zealand record.

Gray also competed at the 2022 FINA World Swimming Championships (25m), where he set the New Zealand record in the 50m freestyle (21.50) and five New Zealand records across relay events.

Following a move to Coast Swimming Club, Gray had a stand-out performance leading off his club's 4x100m freestyle relay at the 2023 New Zealand Swimming Championships. His trademark underwater off the turn catapulted him to a New Zealand Record, touching the wall in a time of 48.29.

Gray went on to compete at the 2023 World Aquatics Championships, where he notably finished in 19th place in the 100m freestyle, narrowly missing out on a semi-final appearance.

But Gray didn't have to wait long to experience a World Championships semi-final. Seven months later, he progressed to the semi-finals of the 100m freestyle at the 2024 World Aquatics Championships in Doha, placing 14th. At the championships, he also took on the 50m freestyle, 50m butterfly and 100m butterfly events.

Earlier this year, Gray set the pool alight in Hawke's Bay when he broke his New Zealand record and qualified for the Olympic Games in the 100m freestyle with a time of 48.26. The 20-year-old hit the water in celebration after the race, "I can't quite believe it," he said, "I was feeling pretty good down the first 50m, and in the last 50m I knew it was going to be close, so [I] just went for it."

Michael Weston at Coast Swimming Club currently coaches Gray.

🥉 2022 Commonwealth Games bronze medallist & New Zealand record - 50m butterfly

2022 Commonwealth Games bronze medallist in the 50m butterfly, breaking the New Zealand record with a time of 23.27

💥 Qualified for Paris 2024 by breaking New Zealand record - 100m freestyle

Reset the national record in the 100m freestyle with a time of 48.26 to qualify for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games

💥 2024 World Aquatics Championships semi-finalist - 100m freestyle

Placed 14th in the 100m freestyle at the 2024 World Aquatics Championships, his first semi-final at a World Aquatics Championships

💥 Reset New Zealand record in relay lead-off at New Zealand Championships - 100m freestyle

Led off the Coast Swimming Club 4x100m freestyle relay, touching in a time of 48.29 to break the New Zealand record

💥 2022 FINA World Swimming Championships finalist & New Zealand record - mixed 4x50m freestyle

Seventh place finish at the 2022 FINA World Swimming Championships (25m) in the mixed 4x50m freestyle relay, resetting the New Zealand record with a time of 1:30.38

💥 Aquablack debut at 2022 FINA World Aquatics Championships

Debuted as Aquablack #277 at the 2022 FINA World Aquatics Championships in Budapest