( dpa ) - Casey Glover, 21, set a new record of 4 hours, 37 minutes and 56 seconds in swimming the 26-kilometre Cook Strait, separating New Zealand's North and South Islands, it was reported Monday. In perfect conditions on Sunday, Glover, from Lower Hutt near Wellington, clipped 27 minutes off the previous fastest swim in 1986 and was 2 hours, 11 minutes faster than the previous best north-to- south crossing, the Dominion Post reported. Glover, who trained by swimming an average of 60 kilometres a week, told the paper, "It was a good day, and I had good tides to push me." Cook Strait has been swum 69 times by 59 people - 28 men and 31 women - since Barrie Devonport first conquered it in 11 hours, 20 minutes on November 20, 1962.