Swimming: Radford wins by two seconds

Kane Radford

Rotorua's Kane Radford has taken out the State La Grande Swim, near Christchurch, in a thrilling finish.

The Perth-based 24-year-old was stroke for stroke with Aucklander Phillip Ryan for the duration of the 2.8km race on Sunday, but just had the edge when it counted at the finish.

Radford was a body length in front as the two swimmers exited the water, and raced up the beach to finish in a time of 31 minutes and eight seconds, just two seconds ahead of Ryan.

Troy Balvert hung on for third, after falling off the blistering pace during the latter stages of the race.

It was a satisfying win for Radford, who missed the opening three events to concentrate on qualifying for the world champs, and only flew in from Perth on Friday morning.

"Yeah it's tough flying from there. It's like a flight from Europe with all the stops you have to make," he said.

The conditions also made life difficult. An unseasonal cold snap saw the mercury plunge to around 14 degrees, a far cry from the temperatures Radford has been experiencing in Western Australia.

"It was hard swimming in a wetsuit too. It's a bit tight when you're not used to it so I need to get in a couple more swims before the next event [in the State Ocean Swim Series] in Mount Maunganui," he said.

For Ryan it was a case of so close and yet so far.

Stefannie Gillespie (Dunedin) was a convincing winner in the women's event. Gillespie was vying with national 5km open water champion Penelope Hayes for the title with around 500m to go, but a burst of speed saw her claim a comfortable 21 second advantage at the line.

The series heads to Mount Maunganui next month.