Multisport: Surprise win caps final ocean swim

Tauranga's Nathan Capp exits the water first in the Sand to Surf ocean swim at Mount Maunganui on Saturday.

A memorable summer season of ocean swims and triathlons at Mount Maunganui ended with the final two events over the weekend.

The weather gods again were kind, providing outstanding conditions for about 1200 athletes who contested the Sand to Surf ocean races on Saturday and the Marra Construction Sprint Triathlon yesterday morning.

Greerton Swim Club's Nathan Capp confounded the pre-event expectations by leading from start to finish to win the challenging 2.6km swim around Rabbit Island in the marquee race of the Sand to Surf ocean swim.

Capp, 22, is the New Zealand 1500m short and long course record holder in the pool and he made a sharp start to take the early lead, which he never relinquished. Rotorua's ocean swim specialist Kane Radford tried vainly to close the gap on his great rival but had to settle for second, seven seconds behind Capp.

The women's race produced the best finish of the day with Taranaki swimmer Charlotte Webby and Australian Samantha Watts stride for stride as they hit the sand out of the water. Watts had the superior kick and took home the title by a second.

Across the harbour at Pilot Bay, the final triathlon of the season was won by Papamoa's Aiden Dunster. The 22-year-old showed how much his swimming had improved as he kept pace with the early leaders in Tauranga's Hayden Moorhouse, Graham Paul and Matt Butler, before he eased away on the final bike and run legs.

Dunster was thrilled to win again on his home patch where he spends hours training every week. He also used the race to tune up for XTERRA Rotorua Festival on April 12, the biggest multisport event in New Zealand.

"I really wanted to win this one because it is a local event. I am confident of a good performance at XTERRA and then I am going to have a break. My body needs a rest."