Bay of Plenty ocean swimmer Kane Radford's Olympic dream is alive after his appeal against his non-selection was upheld.

The New Zealand Olympic committee confirmed Radford's selection for Rio on Tuesday, after the Sports Tribunal of New Zealand ruled he be reconsidered.

Kane Radford.

In a decision released on Tuesday, the tribunal upheld the Rotorua swimmer's appeal after Swimming NZ chose not to nominate any of their ocean swimmers for selection earlier this month.

The selectors were not satisfied there was sufficient evidence they were capable of achieving a top-16 placing in Rio, with the potential for a top-eight finish, as required by the NZOC.

But there was bad news for fellow ocean swimmer Charlotte Webby, whose appeal was not upheld as the tribunal ruled there was "not sufficient evidential basis for the allegation of bias when compared with the approach of SNZ to the nomination of pool swimmers".

Kane who is now based in Perth, finished 19th at the final qualifying event in Portugal this month, after placing 30th at the world championships in Kazan, Russia last year.

"We therefore are of the view that the appeal should be allowed and the matter referred back to the SNZ selectors to consider whether Kane should be nominated," the tribunal decision says.

The tribunal found several factors were not given due consideration by the selectors when assessing Kane's case:

* Kane was interfered with on the finishing straight at a time when he was placed approximately 10th in Portugal.

* The selectors should take into serious account his performances in the World Cup events and the Pan Pacific events as a part of his track record that was highly relevant to the question of whether he should be nominated for selection.

* The selectors should have had regard to the views of Donna Bouzaid, the high performance development coach, that Kane could definitely achieve a top-16 place and had an outside chance of making the top-eight.

Selectors Mark Saunders and John West were present at the hearing.

The tribunal panel was made up of Jim Farmer QC and former Olympic rowing gold medallist Georgina Earl.

NZOC chief executive Kereyn Smith wished Kane the best for the Olympic Games. "We congratulate Kane on his selection and look forward to seeing him compete off Rio's Copacabana coastline this August." Kane becomes New Zealand's first open water swimmer at an Olympics and boosts the swimming squad to nine.