LAKE TAUPO. Kane Radford and Cara Baker won more national titles at the State New Zealand Open Water Championships. 24 hours after qualifying for the Olympic 10K Marathon Swim qualification race, the Kiwi duo showed they have the potential to carry New Zealand’s colors at the 2012 London Olympics.
Kane was in the lead pack throughout the first loop before he and Josh Richardson carved out a comfortable 30-second lead.
It was the older swimmer who had enough kick towards the end to win in 59:30, ten meters ahead of his younger Australian rival. Michael Mincham of Waterhole, Auckland finished third.
On the women’s side, Cara Baker set a pace comparable to the men as she was among the top 10 swimmers overall. Winning comfortably in 1:03.27, it was the third straight national 5K title for the 21-year-old. Cara finished nearly three minutes clear of Charlotte Webby who out-sprinted Australian Emily Seymour for second.
Southern California native, born 1962, is the creator of the WOWSA Awards, Oceans Seven, Openwaterpedia, Citrus Corps, World Open Water Swimming Association, Daily News of Open Water Swimming, Global Open Water Swimming Conference. He is Chief Executive Officer of KAATSU Global and KAATSU Research Institute. Inductee in the International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame (Honor Swimmer, Class of 2001) and Ice Swimming Hall of Fame (Honor Contributor - Media, Class of 2019), recipient of the International Swimming Hall of Fame's Poseidon Award (2016), International Swimming Hall of Fame's Irving Davids-Captain Roger Wheeler Memorial Award (2010), USA Swimming's Glen S. Hummer Award (2007, 2010) and Harvard University's John B. Imrie Award (1984). Served on the FINA Technical Open Water Swimming Committee and as Technical Delegate with the 2011 Special Olympics World Summer Games, and 9-time USA Swimming coaching staff. Note: WOWSA only recommends products or services used or recommended by the community. WOWSA does not receive compensation for links or products mentioned on this site or in blog posts. If it does, it will be indicated clearly on that specific post. See WOWSA's privacy policy for more information.