Rising ocean swimmer Kane Radford takes on the 2.8km King of the Bays in Auckland this weekend with a number of objectives in mind, including proving to the selectors that he was worthy of a spot at the Beijing Olympic Games.
The final round of the New Zealandocean swim series pits the 17-year-old Rotorua swimmer against Beijing-bound Dean Kent and, for the first time in the series, leading Australian swimmer David Browne.
King of the Bays is also Radford's first serious hit-out since being left out of the world open water swimming championships by the New Zealand selectors, an event that also presented his only chance of qualifying for Beijing.
Radford, 17, was disappointed not to be given the opportunity to prove he was up to swimming at Beijingbut is already focused on Sunday's swim.
"It was a big blow but I'm pretty much over it now and concentrating on winning a medal at the world youth championships in Mexico later in the year.
"But Sunday is a good chance to put in a strong performance, win the race and end up winning the series."
The contest between Browne and Radford from Milford Beach to Takapuna Beach is effectively the race for the overall series title.
Radford won the Harbour Crossing and Browne finished third at the Capital Classic and second at the Island to Mount.
Swimmers count their two best results towards the overall series following the cancellation of the Corsair Classic in Christchurch.
New Zealand Ironman Cameron Brown is a late entry for the event and will be using it to gauge his fitness early in his build-up for Ironman Germany in July.
The women's race pits two of the stars of the New Zealand women's Olympic team, Melissa Ingram and Helen Norfolk, against each other. They both swam well at the world short course championships at the weekend.
