Ace Masterton swimmer Kirsten Cameron has qualified to compete for New Zealand at the world open water championships in Naples, Italy later this year.
Cameron,32, will contest the Masters division of that event after earning her spot in the national side by placing third in the 10km open water swim at
the Oceania championships held in Cairns, Australia at the weekend.
She was the leading New Zealander in the women's division there, finishing third behind two Australians Brooke Fletcher and Nikita Barsley, in a time of 2hrs 26mins 17secs.
Fletcher won the gold medal in 2hrs 11mins.16secs with Barsley second in 2hrs 24mins 34secs.
Joining Cameron in the New Zealand team for Naples will be 15-year-old Kane Radford of Rotorua who produced a stunning finish to win the men's title at Cairns in 2hrs 7mins 54secs.
Radford produced a storming burst on the final lap to beat Australia's James Davis by just 8secs.
Cameron, who works in Wellington but is a member of the Masterton Masters swimming group, is set for a busy time as prior to travelling to Italy she will participate in the Masters world swimming championships in San Francisco next month.
Major swimming titles are, of course, nothing new to Cameron, who won no fewer than six freestyle gold medals at the nationals masters long course championships in Auckland back in April over distances of 50m, 100m, 200m, 400, 800m and 1500m.
There she was ranked the fastest swimmer (including the men) over 100m while her 1500m time of 17min 47secs was a national record by a remarkable 35secs, or basically the full length of 50m pool. Two of her other times were national records as well.
