Neill wins swim race but title slips away

With 12 of 13 swims completed, final positions in the Port Nelson Summer Sea Swim Series look pretty well sorted.

Last night's winner Fraser Neill could have won the best-of-10 series, but with pool commitments elsewhere he's only going to manage nine swims for the season, opening the door for Matthew Hansen, who will make it two in a row, after winning the inaugural championship trophy last year.

Hansen was never going to let Neill out of his sight in last night's choppy swim. With the tide flowing one way and the wind blowing the other in warm waters, conditions were perfect for an honest battle as 109 swimmers set off in short and long-course events.

At the finish, Neill (13min 14sec) had a three-second margin over Hansen, with Daryl Henehan (13.42) finishing comfortably ahead of Jack Thornton (13.59), who had his best finish of the season, just a second ahead of Jon Linyard.

Hamish Neill (14.08), Fenn Anderson (14.10) and Denis Cooper (14.17) filled the next spots, ahead of the first woman, Zoe Borrell (15.04).

It's been Borrell's year, the 15-year-old able to drop one no-show, a second and a third to record an otherwise perfect record and an insurmountable lead over Kirstin Ramsay, who placed third last night in 15.31.

Separating the two was Caitlin Abbott, who keeps getting quicker, finishing second in the women's race just a second ahead of Ramsay.

Kerry Mathieson was another second back, cementing her series third place and clear victory in the 40-49 age group. Andrea O'Fee (15.39) and Christina Harris (15.32) were the next two women to finish.

In the short swim over 500m, Luke Kelly raced away to his ninth series win, finishing in 5.56, three seconds ahead of Pippa Cornish, making the pair unbeatable in the male and female versions of the under-16 section.

Kelvin Williams and Miriam Jones took out the top spots in the open section of the short swim, but whereas Jones won't be challenged for the series crown, Williams will have to wait and see what happens next week in his battle with Elliott Harris, who didn't swim last night.

Results nelsonseaswims.co.nz.

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