Retired New Zealand Olympic swimmer Moss Burmester has a new accolade to add to his list of accomplishments – by landing the first black marlin speared in New Zealand waters over the weekend.

A keen freediver and spearfisher, Moss spotted the 163.4kg monster while diving on Sunday, March 5, in ‘Shallow Patch' off of Cape Karikari at roughly 1pm.

What was it like when you first saw it?

'I hardly had any time to think, but I was relaxed and calm. My Flatmate Rosie had first seen it 10sec earlier and shouted out that there was a Marlin, initially I doubted her. Then I saw it for about 3 seconds swimming straight at me before it turned broadside and I had my opportunity for a perfect shot.

'Although my mind was racing and going 'ITS A MARLIN” I felt very calm and knew exactly where I had to shoot it, 10cm above the pectoral fin. I took my time and calmly squeezed off the shot, it hit right where I wanted itto (in the spine) but due to my gun and set not being specifically for big fish it really hurt it but by no means stopped it!”

How did it feel?

'It was epic! A huge trill and something I've always dreamed of from an early age; to catch a Marlin, I just didn't ever realise it was possible or think that it would be through spearfishing! I got the same feeling and rush I had when I won my Commonwealth Games Gold medal!”

How long did it take to get to the boat?

'About 15min, that is considered very fast and it was a hell of a fight. I ended up shooting it 3 times before I grabbed it by the bill to try and icky it.”

What was the fight like?

'The fish didn't explode away like they normally would, Nat Davey (an extremely accomplished fisherman, 2x spearfishing world record holder and is an ex-commercial fisherman) who was with me and whose boat (Allstar) we were on said they are one of the hardest fighting fish around! We think that my spine shot must have really hurt it and slowed it down.

'It still towed me around for about 10min before I had a go at finishing it off by swimming down, grabbing it by the bill in one hand and stabbing my knife between its eyes into its brain to kill it. However it found a new less of energy and went mental! I was holding on for grime death and Nat said watching from the boat (which he had gone to retrieve) I was getting lifted up out of the water and then slammed back down! It was like trying to hold onto a mechanically bull!”

Who were you with?

'Nat, Nat's fiancée Rochele Potter and Rosie Sharman my flatmate were in the water with me. Rochele is a very, very good spearo with six world spearing records including the striped Marlin. She was giving me advice throughout the fight.”

Is it a record?

'Because I was handed loaded guns I can't apply for an NZ record as it must be completely unassisted. However right from the start due to my first shot not going right through the fish and therefore not being very secure we didn't want to lose it and it likely later die, so speed was more important hence why I was handed two loaded guns to second and third shoot it. There would have been nothing worse than it getting off and potentially dying and getting wasted.”

How much did it weigh?

'163.4kg Black Marlin, the first ever speared and landed in NZ.”

How do you know it is the first?

'It's a vacant record on http://www.spearfishingnz.co.nz/nz-records and the whole spearing community has said it's the first.”

What gear did you use?

'Pathos 120 Carbon speargun with a normal shaft (no slip-tip) and single 16mm rubber. I only had my little 12 litre float until two smaller 12 litre floats were clipped on. I was wearing Ruku fins and a Beuchat wetsuit.”