Radford wins bronze in Australian Open Water Swim Championships

Rotorua’s Kane Radford won the bronze medal in the 5km race at the Australian Open Water Swim Championships near Sydney on Sunday.

The 18-year-old Radford bounced back from his disappointing finish in yesterday’s 10km race which was the selection event for the world championships. Radford, currently training in USA, produced a strong performance today. He broke clear in a group of seven swimmers who opened up a gap on the36-strong field at the International Regatta Centre at Penrith.

Yesterday’s 10km winner Trent Grimsey made it a double when he out-kicked the leading pack to win in 55:43 from fellow Australian Andrew Bento and Radford who were only 12 seconds back.

Wellington’s Casey Glover was eighth and Auckland’s Phillip Ryan ninth.

Kirsten Cameron was 13th in the open women’s race won by former New Zealander Kate Brookes-Peterson who edged out the 10km winner Melissa Gorman.

Results, 5km Australian Open Water Swim, Penrith:
Men: Trent Grimsey (AUS) 55:43, 1; Andrew Bento (AUS) 55:55, 2; Kane Radford (NZL) 55:56, 3. Other New Zealanders: Casey Glover 56:47, 8; Phillip Ryan 56:50, 9.
Women: Kate Brookes-Peterson (AUS) 59:24, 1; Melissa Gorman 59:25, 2; Stacey Hansford 1:00:00, 3. Also Kirsten Cameron (NZL) 1:01.25, 13.