Bay of Plenty teens dominate Lake Okataina Open Water Swim

If you take a look at the results from any of the open water swimming events held in Bay of Plenty this season, there is a good chance the name David Boles will be top of the list.

The 17-year-old John Paul College student powered to victory in the 6km Lake Okataina Open Water Swim this morning,barely 24 hours after winning the Generation Homes Sand to Surf title in Tauranga.

He finished the Lake Okataina swim in 1h 19m 11s. He has spent the summer getting as many open water swimming races under his belt as possible, in the lead-up to the Oceania Swimming Championships in Papua New Guinea in June for which he has been selected to represent New Zealand.

Last month he won the 3.3km I'm Going Long race at the Donelly Sawmillers Rotorua Legend of the Lake in 41m 16s.

"[The Lake Okataina swim] wasn't too bad today, just a bit cold near the end. The game plan was to just go hard because I have to practise that for my bigger races," Boles said.

He will be competing in the 5km and 10km races at the Oceania championships.

Rotorua's David Boles was the fastest man in the 6km Lake Okataina Open Water Swim. Photo / Stephen Parker

"Today I didn't really mind about the time, it was just about getting the win. Rotorua's great for open water swimming, there are so many lakes, lots of different bits and bobs you can do and so many competitions."

The fastest woman at Lake Okataina was Tauranga's Mia Pugh (16) in 1h 21m 13s. She also competed at the Sand to Surf yesterdaywhere she was the second fastest woman.

Tauranga's Mia Pugh (16) was the fastest woman in the 6km Lake Okataina Open Water Swim. Photo / Stephen Parker

She is also training for the Oceania Championships.

"It was a really nice swim and because it was really flat you could just get in a rhythm and go. The swim yesterday was a bit different because it was in the ocean with currents and waves and lots more people around. But it was a really good swim yesterday, I enjoyed that as well, it's been a really good weekend.

"I'm trying to fit in as many open water swims as I can before it gets colder here. The lakes [in Rotorua] are really beautiful and I love swimming in them. We're often over here doing lake swims because there are so many on," Pugh said.

She preferred open water to swimming in a pool because "you can just keep going".

"It's all about getting into a rhythm and just holding it, making sure your technique is holding up but also that you're going strong and hard. It's a lot more rhythmical because you can just go and go and go, there's no walls in the way, it is quite different," she said.