Swimming: Breaststroker in unfamiliar waters

Commonwealth Games swimmer Glenn Snyders will compete - freestyle - in the Cross Harbour Swim this weekend. Photo / Paul Estcourt

Glenn Snyders admits he will venture out of his comfort zone when dons a wetsuit and plunges into the water at Bayswater on Sunday.

Away from the pool, he won't have a black line to follow as he sets out in the State Harbour Crossing but he is not too fazed at the prospect of going stroke-for-stroke with New Zealand's best open water swimmers.

About one thing he is adamant.

Despite suggestions that he, as New Zealand's top breaststroke swimmer, should use his specialty stroke for the 2.8km haul from the North Shore to the Viaduct on the other side of the Auckland harbour, Snyders has no intention of doing that.

"[Race director] Scott Rice asked if I wanted to do it breaststroke but I assured him 3km in the sea was not a good idea but I was more than happy to do it freestyle," said Snyders ahead of his first ocean swim. "It should be a bit of fun.

"I have swum 3km and 5km in training but it was a long time ago."

Asked what was the longest he had swum freestyle, Snyders said "perhaps 800m in one go".

But he is confident he "has the miles in the bank" to tackle such a challenge.

"Hopefully I can get in the main bunch and see what happens. I don't know if I will be able to go with the leaders."

Three-time winner Kane Radford, who isalso a member of the national squad, swims a distance programme, he says: "I swim a sprint programme."

Pool swimmers including Moss Burmester, Dean Kent, Helen Norfolk and Melissa Ingram have successfully used their all-round talents to shine in the sea with Burmester and Norfolk among the previous winners.

Snyders backs the same build-up as he prepares for the unknown. He goes through 10 two-hour sessions a week swimming up to 4-5km at a time.

"I'm sure I have the background to get there," said Snyders, 23. "It will be a case of maintaining the speed over such a distance and pacing it correctly. There will be plenty of time to think about it. I don't want to finish last.

"There is no black line to follow like there is in the pool so I will have to try not to zigzag my way across the harbour. That is something I have to get my head around."

Snyders goes through his paces under the eye of national coach Mark Regan.

"It will be a good indication of my fitness. The next big meet - the London Olympics - is 18 months away but before that we have the April trials, from which the team for next year's world [long course] championships will be named."

No one is expecting big things from our top breaststroker but as pool swimmers before him have shown, he might not be out of his depth.

Favourites to chase maximum points in the first of six races in the State Ocean Swim Series are defending champion Bryn Murphy, three-time winner Radford, Steven Kent, winner of the Kings of the Bays in April and Phillip Ryan, third here last summer.

In the women's race, Australian-based World Open Water Championships-bound Cara Baker will be challenged by Melissa Ingram, twice runner-up, and Alannah Jury, third last year.