SNZ Events
Rotorua swimmer Kane Radford 19th in the men's Olympic 10km open water marathon early yesterday morning (NZT).
But he can't help wondering what might have been.
Radford, New Zealand's first Olympic open water competitor, swam the race in 1hr 53m 18s and was only 19 seconds behind the winner, Ferry Weertman from the Netherlands.
It was an agonising build up to the Olympics for the former John Paul College student who only had his place in the New Zealand Olympic team confirmed after having to appeal to the Sports Tribunal against Swimming New Zealand's initial non-nomination.
"I think at the end of the day I'm not exactly happy with my result - but I feel like I am walking away from this race feeling 100 per cent within myself," he said.
"I know I gave it everything and to be within 19 seconds of an Olympic gold medallist over a two hour race is pretty incredible in itself."
But the events in the build up to the games took their toll.
Read more:
• Radford comes 19th in open water swim
"The things I've had to go through in the last couple of months with everything going on, it definitely hasn't helped and it has only made me realise what could have happened if I'd had the backing and support that all the other athletes that were in that race had.
"I knew within myself that I was always competitive with those guys and the support I had with the open water community around the world and from the swimming community, that gave me confidence. But when you are slapped in the face from your own federation who don't back you, it does affect you, there's no question about that. You can't say it doesn't.
"Those two to three weeks of not knowing what was going on and having to go through that whole court process, it does affect you, there's no denying that. Through that process, I couldn't motivate myself to get to training."
Radford will stay in Rio until the Games' closure at the weekend, and said he will now turn to supporting the other Kiwi athletes that are still there and still competing.
"Now for me, it's all about the experience. Cheering on the fellow Kiwis and seeing them do well is what I look forward to now. I'm looking forward to more medals and more great results."
He said the sporting actions of 5000m runner Nikki Hamblin, who helped American runner Abbey D'Agostino back to her feet after both had fallen during a heat race, reflected on the whole New Zealand team.
"It makes you proud to walk around the village in the New Zealand uniform. Everyone's saying how incredible we are as athletes and as people just from that one incredible act."
Radford now lives and trains in Perth, Australia.
His family from Rotorua went to Rio to support the 25-year-old swimmer.
Radford is still a member of Swim Rotorua, and president Henry Weston said the club was thrilled Radford was at the Olympics and at his performance in the 10km marathon swim.
"It's such a brutal event - the last 350m of the race was like a washing machine, it was just extraordinary, there was nothing between them at all."
Despite living on Australia's west coast, Weston said Radford has stayed true to his Rotorua roots.
"He puts messages of encouragement on the club's Facebook page and actively engages and that's great for our young people, it really benefits our young swimmers."
