Competitive Kiwi open water swimmers miss direct Rio Olympic spots

New Zealand’s open water swimmers were competitive without reward in the FINA Marathon Swimming Olympic Qualification event in Portugal.

Rotorua’s Kane Radford was the best of the New Zealanders in 19^th place in the men’s 10km event at Setubal near Lisbon, 20 seconds off the final direct qualifying spot for Rio.

Auckland’s Phillip Ryan was 34^th while New Plymouth’s Charlotte Webby was 31^st in the women’s race.

Ten qualifiers were secured at last year’s world championships with a further 10 places and five continental spots decided in Setubal to compete the 25-strong fields for the Olympics.

Radford raced impressively in the big lead pack for much of the six lap race, reeling off 18 minute laps to lie in 10^th place after four laps. He managed to lift his game as the pace went on in lap five with a 17:39 lap to remain in contention.

The pace was furious in the final lap, with the Kiwi going faster again but unable to match the remarkable speed of the leaders who were able to push into the 16 minute range.

China’s Lijun Zu, the Asian Games champion, won in 1:52:18 ahead of Germany’s Christian Reichert, with the final direct spot secured in 1:52.32, which was 20 seconds faster than Radford, all lost in that frantic final lap.

Ryan (Waterhole) produced a solid and consistent swim in 1:54:27, but could not lift to the pace of the leaders over the final two laps.

It was a similar story for Webby who was in contention after four laps as she recorded a 19 minute lap – her fastest of the race – but could not match the stunning pace of the leaders over the final two laps.

China’s Xin Xin won in 1:55:12 in a sprint finish with double world champion Keri-Anne Payne (GBR) with Webby 31^st in 2:00:13.

Results:

Women: Xin Xin (CHN) 1:55:12.1, 1; Kerri-Anne Payne (GBR) 1:55:12.9, 2; Arevalo (ECU) 1:55:15.9, 3. Also: Charlotte Webby (NZL) 2:00:13.20, 31.

Men: Lijun Zu (CHN) 1:52:18.2, 1; Christian Reichert (GER) 1:52:20.4, 2; Ivan Ochoa (ECU) 1:52:22.6. Also: Kane Radford (NZL) 1:52:52.8, 19; Phillip Ryan (NZL) 1:54:27,.2, 34.