By TERRY MADDAFORD
Late entrant and better-known pool swimmer Moss Burmester pushed world champion Ironman Cory Hutchings all the way, failing only by 4s to pull off a major upset in the inaugural King of the Bays ocean race on Saturday.
Burmester, who will swim butterfly at the Athens Olympics in August,
headed early leader Hutchings in the latter stages of the 2.8km swim from Milford to Takapuna but Hutchings' greater experience told on the run to the finish.
Pre-race favourite Brent Foster was third 11s behind Burmester and 1s ahead of Michael Jack.
The race, in perfect conditions, was won in 32m 32s, well under predictions. Other Athens-bound Olympians, triathlete Nathan Richmond and medley swimmer Dean Kent, continued their good form with top-eight finishes while four-time New Zealand Ironman triathlon champion Cameron Brown took a credible 12th place just over 3min behind Hutchings.
The women's race was not as close with Rebecca Linton finishing well clear of Sarah Gempton in 34m 48s, a time good enough for eighth overall. Alison Fitch who, like Linton, is hoping to get to Athens in a relay team was fourth with Melissa Ingram eighth.
"I hadn't done as much training as I hoped and I didn't have any high hopes of winning," said Hutchings. "He [Burmester] was clearly very competitive. I went out hard with the intention of hanging on and being close enough to use my experience at the end. I planned to stand up early and start running and that's how it worked out."
Linton, who like Hutchings collected $5000 worth of furniture from race sponsors Bella Design International for her win, said: "This was a cross-training event for me. I really enjoyed it even if it was a bit different swimming in a wetsuit."
There was a special cheer for Jed Rice and his golden retriever Rosie who swam the race together, recording a time of just over 54 minutes. At times the dog had to loop back and wait for his owner.
A field of 300 contested the swim, which race organiser Scott Rice plans as an annual event.
