Bryn Murphy won his first New Zealand open water swimming title on Sunday, but does not intend pursuing his Olympic dream for London in 2012.
The Waves swimmer won his first New Zealand open water title in the 5km event at Lake Taupo on Sunday when he beat Kane Radford (Rotorua) and Phillip Ryan (Auckland) in a time of 1hr 00min 14.29sec.
"It was the most tactical open water race I've been in," Murphy said.
"Ten swimmers led the race at different stages."
Murphy retired from pool swimming in September 2008 because he thought the tough qualifying standard would make it impossible for him to get to the Olympics in 2012.
However, his success in the New Zealand open water swim series over the past two years has renewed his enthusiasm for the sport.
But London is no longer in his sights.
"The shift to open water swimming has been enjoyable and a lot of fun," Murphy said.
"I just wanted to see how I would go. I don't have any specific goals for the longer term."
His immediate focus is on the rest of the New Zealand open water swim series, which ends in April.
On Sunday, there were 12 swimmers in the front bunch on the first of the two 2.5km laps.
Murphy led the pack down the back straight for the first time but was not able to get a break on the field.
While his efforts whittled the contenders down to seven with a lap to go, it was the final 150m sprint which took its toll.
With 60m left, there were only four swimmers capable of winning.
"They had to jump up and touch the touch pad at the finish to register their time," coach Andy Adair said.
"Bryn was being pushed out left."
However, Murphy managed to get a 1m break and veered inwards, pushing the other swimmers out wide, to touch the pad first.
"Bryn proved the strongest and just touched out Kane Radford," Adair said.
"The conditions were difficult, with a strong surface chop whipped up by the westerly wind."
Murphy was fourth in the 10km race on Saturday in 2hr 00min 47.10sec.
Other Waves swimmers also performed with credit, with Troy Balvert eighth (1hr 03min 43.65sec) in the 5km race and sixth (2hr 06min 52.34sec) in the 10km.
Natasha Davidson swam personal best times in both the 10km (2hr 39min 19.48sec) and 5km (1hr 18min 47.85sec) women's races.
Murphy (24), who works for Inland Revenue in Dunedin, met the first criteria for Olympic Games selection when he finished fourth in the 10km race.
But the other criteria are more difficult.
He would have to finish in the top four at the Australian championships in Sydney at the end of February to qualify for the world championships and then in the top 10 at the worlds to qualify for the Olympics.
Murphy has been successful in the shorter ocean swims but does not think he has fitness background to compete internationally over 10km.
He is also completing his university papers to qualify as a chartered accountant while still working full time.
Murphy won the open men's event in 56min 33.24sec ahead of Kane Radford (56min 44.39sec) and Balvert (56min 57.88sec).
