''So, it's goodbye to an old friend,'' Peter Montgomery announced cheerily and with the trademark flair which has made him a household name in New Zealand.
To most of us, ''PJ'' is the voice of the America's Cup. At King's High School, in Dunedin, he is also remembered for the scorching 200m he ran in 1960.
The veteran broadcaster was quite the athlete in his prime and his record time of 23.26sec stood until strapping 17-year-old Rory O'Neill (22.69sec) eclipsed the 55-year-old mark at the school's athletics day at the Caledonian last Thursday.
Montgomery phoned Rory to congratulate him and later spoke to the Otago Daily Times.
''Records are made to be broken and the record that I've held since 1960 has been there for far too long, especially for a school of our standing,'' Mr Montgomery said.
He was aware of others who should have broken the record in the 1980s and 1990s, but events had conspired against them.
He also received a call before he was heading out on the water to broadcast during America's Cup 2000 that his record would probably tumble.
''In the end, it didn't happen for whatever reason. It was windy or there was rain or something which went against them.''
''I'm pleased it's finally gone. He sounded a good young kid too. I did say to him if I get down to Dunedin this year I will make it my business to come out to King's High School and meet him. I'd love to shake his hand.''
Rory's record dash was the product of some firm determination.
He broke the school's 100m record last year and targeted Montgomery's blistering 200m time.
''I've been training hard and with the times I've been running, I sort of targeted it and thought I should be able to run under that. I'm just stoked to beat it by that margin.''
While Rory was pleased with his effort in the 200m, he had to settle for second place in the 100m.
His record time of 11.11sec fell too, with Ben Kiore slashing 0.16sec off the mark.
