Extra Incentive for Olympic Open Water Swim Aspirants

There’s extra incentive for New Zealand’s best open water swimmers at next month’s Olympic selection event in Taupo.

Swimming New Zealand’s major sponsor State and Swimmerbro are putting up $10,000 prizemoney to be shared by the winning male and female in the State 10km NZ Open Water Championships.

The championships form part of the third annual State Epic Swim on 14-15 January, comprising a series of competitive and recreational events.

The highlight will be the State 10km championship on Saturday 14 January, which is the first of two selection events for open water swimmers to progress to the London Olympics.

The first two New Zealanders to finish the men’s and women’s 10km races will earn a start in the final Olympic qualifying event in Portugal in June. From there the first New Zealander finishing in the top nine will earn nomination to the New Zealand Olympic Committee for selection.

Swimming New Zealand said the prize purse for the championships is a welcome incentive for competitors with $5000 for the winner of each race.

Leading New Zealander Kane Radford has welcomed the move to put up prizemoney as a means to attract a quality entry, having won the US$10,000 winner-take-all purse at the prestigious Tiburon Mile in San Francisco earlier this year.

“It can only be positive for New Zealand Swimming to get a strong international field for our first step in qualifying, as we don’t get all that much tough competition in New Zealand, and the stronger the field the better swimmers we will become,” Radford said.
Swimming New Zealand events manager Kent Stead agreed.

“Prizemoney for winners is common for open water swimming and a real incentive for them,” said Swimming New Zealand events manager, Kent Stead.

“It’s important this is a fast and open race to best replicate the sorts of race pace they will experience in Portugal, and also to ensure it is as fair as possible.

“The incentive of the prizemoney will help in this regard, as we expect it will also attract some interest from Australian swimmers. While they can’t qualify obviously, their involvement will add real strength and meaning to the event, just as it is when Kiwi swimmers compete in the Australian open water championships.

“We are thrilled that Swimmerbro and State have offered the prizemoney and going forward we believe it will act as a real incentive to grow the stature of the event and the recreational State Epic Swim in Taupo, with entries already well up on last year.”

For full details: www.swimmingnz.org.nz