English Channel record holder Trent Grimsey proved too classy in the Paihia Classic, beating his nearest rival by one minute over the journey from Russell to Paihia today.
The 24-year-old Queenslander covered the 3.3km in a time of 40 minutes 34 seconds, well ahead of New Zealand's leading hope and
defending series champion Kane Radford, who finished just ahead of Auckland's Phillip Ryan and Trent Grimsey's younger brother Codie, who was fourth.
Trent Grimsey started strongly, quickly going to the front, and he was never headed. He was 50m ahead after 1km and steadily built on that.
"This was the first time I'd swum in a wetsuit since last year, so that took about 200m to get used to but, after that, I felt really good," Grimsey said.
Grimsey's win continues an outstanding year. In September, he shaved two minutes off the record for the English Channel crossing, recording a time of six hours 55 minutes.
