Swim Rotorua makes waves at New Zealand open water championships

(from left) David Boles, Swim Rotorua, Matt Scott, Enterprise, Gisborne, and Quinton Hurley, Jasi, Christchurch. Photo/supplied

Swim Rotorua enjoyed a stunning start to its 2018 campaign with an outstanding team performance at the New Zealand Open Water Championships held at Taupo at the weekend.

Swim Rotorua has a strong tradition of excelling in open water events, especially with Rio Olympian Kane Radford.

With more young, talented swimmers coming through, it looks like the tradition will be around for many years to come.

David Boles, 17, dug in deep to place first in his age group and second overall in the 10km race, securing his ticket to represent New Zealand at the Oceania Championships in June.

David came home strongly on the last 2.5km lap to achieve a time of 2 hours 22.82 seconds.

Next up was the 5km race which witnessed a titanic battle over the last 200m with David and three other swimmers all in a line as they gave it everything. A great last 15m surge saw David cross the line in second place overall and first again in his age group.

Emily Spear, 14, stepped up again this year and produced two excellent performances in the 10km and 5km races. Despite her young age, Emily showed great tenacity and staying power to win her age group and be fourth New Zealander in the 10km race.

In the 5km race, Emily made a courageous start to be in the leading group through to the 2km mark, and came home in second spot in her age group and seventh overall in New Zealand.

Because the event doubled as the National Schools Open Water Championships, Emily also picked up the silver medal.

Damon Cowie produced a steely effort in the Epic 5km to win by just over a minute to stop the clock at 1 hour 03 minutes and 59.45 seconds. Annelyse Cowie also made it to the top of the podium with an excellent race in the Epic 1km to place first in her age group and third overall.

Annelyse from Western Heights High School also took home the national schools title.

Rotorua Boys High School student James Baldwin competed in the Epic 1km race and placed third in his age group.

This was good enough to take home the silver medal in the national schools category. In the Epic 2.5km, Theo Harvey made it another medal for Rotorua Boys High School with an outstanding debut to take the bronze medal in the Year 9-10 category.

Rounding off an amazing weekend for Swim Rotorua was a fourth place for 18-year-old Ryan Wilkinson in his age group in the 5km race. Also in the mix were David Spear and David Boles senior who competed in the Epic 5km and Masters 2.5km respectively.

Head coach Alastair Johnson was delighted with the team's showing.

"The whole team has done exceptionally well. David Boles' qualification for the Oceania Championships is a fantastic result for him which shows that his success last year was no fluke.

"He has a great future ahead of him. I was really impressed with young Emily Spear with her fearless racing and her appetite to push herself to the limit.

"It was also great to see our other young pool swimmers do really well and demonstrate that they are completely at home in the open water events."