Tauranga's Nathan Capp won first place in the Sand to Surf Ocean series in Mount Maunganui today.
Nathan grabbed the first place position with a time of 29 minutes and 21 seconds after swimming the 2.6km course.
Rotorua's Kane Radford came in a close second place seven seconds later and Phillip Ryan came in third with a time of 29 minutes and 30 seconds.
Nathan is the current New Zealand record holder for the men's 1500m freestyle in both short and long distance course.
New Plymouth's Charlotte Webby was the first woman to cross the finish line with a time of 31 minutes and 58 seconds, followed by Australian Samantha Watts.