Shark threat fails to stop Cameron winning

Kirsten Cameron was blissfully unaware a shark was nearby as she swum to an upset victory in the Kapiti Island to Mainland open swim event earlier this month.
Cameron, 33 , saw a member of her support crew waving to her during the 5.6km race but didn't give a thought to the fact they may have been warning her that a shark had been seen in the vicinity.
"I just thought they were trying to tell me that I had drifted a little too far away from the boat so I changed direction slightly to get a bit closer," Cameron recalled yesterday.
"It was only when I finished that I heard about the shark, and of course it was too late to think too much about it then. But had I known what was going on...well, I might have reacted a bit differently then!"
Cameron, a resident of Wellington but a member of the Masterton Masters swim group, admits she was surprised to win the event.
Her aim was to be first woman home as she considered that at least two of the male competitors would be ahead of her from go to whoa.
But after hitting the lead within the first 200 metres her mindset changed, and she was determined not to be headed.
"I thought I'm in front now so I might as well go for it," Cameron said.
"It's a long way to stay in front but it's amazing what you can do when the frame of mind is positive."
Cameron was clocked at 1hr 39mins 59secs, 30secs ahead of second-placed Ben Campbell-McDonald, also of Wellington.
And third was another swimmer from the capital, 13-year-old Stephanie Bennington who finished in 2hrs 4mins 17secs.
Seldom does a woman win open events of this type and Cameron concedes it was a nice feeling to head off her male counterparts.
"Most of them took it pretty well but I think a few of the younger ones were a bit peeved off that they had not only been beaten by a woman but a 33-year-old woman at that," she quipped.
The success came just 10 days or after Cameron had finished second in the women's section at the New Zealand open water swim 5km championships at Lake Ratana.
It was a result which disappointed Cameron who had been intent on winning the national title but she was loathe to blame an incident at the start of the race which saw her struck unintentionally on the shoulder by another swimmer, a knock which still has her receiving physiotherapy to lessen the pain.
"I guess having a sore shoulder didn't help but that sort of thing can easily happen when a group of swimmers are in close contact and you just have to grin and bear it," she said.
"It might have made a difference but who really knows?"
Cameron, who dominated her age group in freestyle events at the last World Masters championships, is now setting her sights on the New Zealand youth and open championships to be held in Christchurch. She is to contest the open women's 400m and 800 freestyle races there and while she believes her lack of speed will keep her out of the medals in the 400m she is hopeful of being on the dias after the 800m. In the longer term though Cameron has selection in the New Zealand swim team for the Beijing Olympics very much at the forefront of her ambitions.
A 10km open water swim is on the programme there and under the watchful eye of coach, former Olympian Gary Hurring, she is "getting serious" about being competitive against the best of international competition.