"It is a bit of a sprint, but you don't want to go out too fast. You want to get in behind the lead group and draft behind the leader until the end and then out-sprint them. That is what I did last year."
Spear is in good form going into the local event, after picking up a silver medal for his age group at the 10km New Zealand Open Water Championships in Taupo earlier this month.
The England-born swimmer said he learned to swim while he was still living in Great Britain, then joined a swimming club at age 6, when his family moved to Rotorua.
"I basically learned to swim back in England and got into the local club here, Arawai, when I got here, which used to be run by Scott Donaldson."
He is now part of the Swim Rotorua Club, headed by Alastair Johnson, which he said was really helping him with his swimming.
He explained his best results as a swimmer had probably been his silver medals at the New Zealand Open Water Championships and the national pool champs.
"Probably my national age group medals: I won one in the pool and one at Taupo in the open water."
Spear said he had also spent time training with Kane Radford - Rotorua's top swimmer and New Zealand open water champion - this year and had learned plenty from him and his mum Bronwen Radford.
Spear said he enjoyed racing in the pool and in open water, and they both had good aspects. He said the pool was more technical, with splits and racing in lanes, while open-water racing was more free.
His dad David and younger sister Emily will also be taking part in the 2km Rotorua Open Water Swim tomorrow, he said.
The other main events at the Ecomist Blue Lake Multisport Festival include the Aquathon tomorrow morning and the Sprint Triathlon on Sunday morning.
The man and woman with the overall fastest times across all three of the events will be crowned King and Queen of the Lake - taking home $500, a trophy and a jade pendant.
There is also a Kids Triathlon, 750m Lake Swim and Fun Run/Walk available during the weekend.
*The 2km YHA Rotorua Open Water Swim event starts at 5pm tomorrow. The race begins near the Blue Lake lookout and sees swimmers race back to the main beach at the lakefront.
