New Zealand have finished 10th in the open water team's race at the swimming world championships in Barcelona today.
The three-strong team of Kane Radford, Phillip Ryan and Cara Baker recorded a time of 56 minutes, 12 seconds in the 5km race in Vell Harbour won emphatically by Germany in
52:54. The team race consists of two men and one woman, with the time taken as the third person finishes.
The Kiwi trio were in the third pack with Russia and Hungary, achieving a strong result in their first attempt at the team's format.
"Tactics are a key part obviously and it requires excellent team work,'' Swimming New Zealand open water manager Philip Rush said. "For a first time they went extremely good, with Radford pushing hard from the front and doing a lot of the pace-making.
"To finish 10th from 25 countries was pleasing with nations like South Africa, Canada, Japan and China behind us today.
