State Sand to Surf Swim Attracts Strongest Field in Series

National open water swim champion Kane Radford faces the strongest men’s field in recent history in the penultimate round of the State NZ Ocean Swim Series on Saturday.

Rotorua’s Kane Radford headlines a superb field stacked with a 10-strong powerhouse kiwi contingent along with a classy international field, each with winning potential in the State Sand to Surf race at Mount Maunganui.

Australia’s highest ranked male open water swimmer Trent Grimsey and current Great Australian Swim Series champion Michael Sheil are among the best in the world. The New Zealand challengers are led by Rotorua’s Radford, his fellow New Zealand qualifier to the London Olympic trial Jonathan Pullon (Waterhole, Auckland) and 2011 national open water champion Philip Ryan, also from the Waterhole club.
“I think this is the best field of all the State Ocean Swim races this year for the men so it is definitely going to be a great hit-out for me,” said Radford.

“A win would push me up into the lead overall and make up for the poor effort in Wellington [when Radford missed the final buoy and cost himself the race].”

Mount Maunganui is the only pure surf beach included in this season’s calendar. The swimmers may have to negotiate tumbling waves as they enter and exit the water, which if not done carefully could ruin their chances of success.

“This race is a bit different to the rest. Sometimes it can be quite flat at the Mount but sometimes it can have some quite sizeable surf,” said Radford.

“You need your surf skills firstly to get out into the water and then coming into the finish at the main beach also. It’s where the race could be won or lost.”

In the women’s elite swim, Aucklander Brenda Russell faces a tough battle if she is to retain her series lead as a host of New Zealand’s top open water swimmers as well as visiting Australian Tash Harrison will be nipping at her heels. Harrison was third in the recent Australian 10km open water championships. The top kiwi talent includes Taranaki’s Charlotte Webby, last year’s series champion, and Lauren Boyle, the country’s top female pool swimmer, currently ranked in the top 10 in the world.

Event manager Scott Rice said the addition of international opposition such as these three Australians is crucial for the development of the series, but also of New Zealand’s local talent.

“One of our key objectives is to help raise the standard of open water swimming in New Zealand,” he said.

“Attracting top international fields provides important competition for our leading swimmers in what is now an Olympic sport.”

As well as the elites, around 750 swimmers of all ages and abilities will be competing in any one of four distances on offer at the State Sand to Surf. Those include the 2.6km long swim, intermediate swims of 1000m and 300m, and a 200m kids swim which will feature a demonstration of technique from one of the elites.

Online entries close on Thursday 8 March with limited late entries accepted on Friday at the Mount Surf Club from 5-8pm.’

Details: www.oceanswim.co.nz.

Caption: Kane Radford in action.