Gisborne teenager Matt Scott easily won the Sand to Surf elite "I'm Going Long" swim at Mount Maunganui's Main Beach this morning.
Scott, 18, led from start to finish and hit the beach opposite Mt Drury in 30m 29s, nearly 70 metres ahead of 49-year-old Brett Foster in second with David Boles from Rotorua third.
"I have done one of these before at the Mount and I wasn't really expecting anything big," Scott said.
"I have recently moved from Gisborne to the High Performance Centre in Auckland and have had a massive week. They said the only way I could get this morning's training session off was if I win this. I felt really good.
"Navigating is not too hard as the buoys are so big and so bright. Between the two islands is quite choppy and I swallowed a bit of water.
"Hopefully I can win a few more. We will have to see what happens throughout the series."