Kane Radford wins medal, Liam Albery pipped in Pan Pacs open water

Rotorua swimmer Kane Radford had a long wait but it was worth it when he claimed the bronze medal in the Pan Pacific Championships open water 10km swim in Hawaii today.

Radford and fellow New Zealand representative Charlotte Webby travelled to Hawaii along with several of the other open water swimmers after their scheduled race was cancelled after inclement weather in the Gold Coast last week.

The elite race was re-scheduled with the open water event at the Junior Pan Pacific Championships in Maui today.

While it was delight for Radford, it was disappointment for Wellington teenager Liam Albery, who was pipped in a sprint finish for the bronze medal in the Junior PanPacs men’s 10km race.

Radford positioned himself well in the lead pack throughout in the six lap race. American Andrew Gemmell proved too strong, racing clear to win in 1:51.11. Meanwhile the New Zealander made a decisive move 200m out, in a fierce battle with Australians Jarrod Poort and Simon Huitenga.

In a desperate finish, Poort out-touched Radford for the silver medal with Huitenga just behind in fourth.

It was similar in the junior race with American Brendan Casey out-sprinting Canadian Jon McKay for the victory with Albery locked in a battle for the bronze medal. The Capital club swimmer launched a final attack but was edged by Australian Lachlan Colquhoun in the sprint finish.

In other swims Charlotte Webby (AquaBladz New Plumouth) was an encouraging sixth in the elite women’s race, with a strong performance in the lead pack throughout to finish only nine seconds from the winner Haley Anderson (USA) who was the London Olympic silver medallist.

Ashburton’s Grace Sommerville was 12th in the junior women’s 10km race.

Results:

Pan Pacific Championship, elite men: Andrew Gemmell (USA) 1:51.11, 1; Jarrod Poort (AUS) 1:52.12, 2; Kane Radford (NZL) 1:52.13, 3. 

Elite women: Haley Anderson (USA) 1:59.51, 1; Eva Fabian (USA) 1:59.52, 2; Chelsea Gubecka (AUS) 1:59.54, 3. Also: Charlotte Webby (NZL) 2:00.00, 6.

Junior Pan Pacific Championship, men:  Brendan Casey (USA) 1:58.00, 1; Jon McKay (Canada) 1:58.01, 2; Lachlan Colquhoun (AUS) 1:58.35, 3. Also: Liam Albery (NZL) 1:58.36, 4.

Women: Yukim Moriyama (JPN) 2:00.00, 1; Grace Hull (AUS) 2:03.13, 2; Regan Kology (USA) 2:03.25, 3. Also: Grace Sommerville (NZL) 2:08.59, 12.

Details: www.swimmingnz.org.nz