Swimmer eyes Olympics

Cook Islands open water swimmer Hayden Vickers continues to improve and is eyeing up a spot at the 2012 London Olympics.

The New Zealand based swimmer recently competed in the Paihia Classic State Ocean Swim on December 10 where he came 12th overall.

Vickers clocked a time of 41 minutes and 49 seconds for the 3.3km swim to finish second in the under 19 age group.

Earlier this year the Vickers competed at the Arafura Games in Australia where he came third behind swimmers from Australia and Poland.

He also represented the Cook Islands in Shanghai where he competed in the 5km race.

Cook Islands Aquatic Federation president Romani Katoa says that Vickers is training hard for the Olympic qualifying event which will be a 10km swim in Portugal in June 2012.

With improved results in each event, Vickers is looking sharp to secure a spot to represent the Cook Islands at the 2012 Olympics.