Kristof Milak was heading into his final lap, chasing a world record in the men’s 200m butterfly at his home swimming world championships, in Budapest.
Dunedin’s Crosland had no connection to the race itself — he was there as a coach with the New Zealand team. But seeing the passion of the fans and the reaction as Milak took the world record was unforgettable.
Crosland had arrived on the sport’s elite stage and he was soaking in everything it had to offer.
"The Hungarians, they love their swimming like New Zealanders love their rugby," he said.
"It’s a massive arena, and the sound of the Hungarians screaming in the last 50m, when they realised he might break the world record, was unbelievable.
"The only thing I could compare it to would be the All Blacks scoring a try. It was unreal, really."
It was just a moment in a 10-week trip, which also encompassed the Mare Nostrum Tour and Commonwealth Games.
He described the trip as "pretty cool" and said he learnt plenty while away.
However, it had also been a whirlwind and it had not all quite sunk in yet.
Crosland had been pleased to see the set up they had in Dunedin matched what the elite programmes around the world were doing.
However, his main takeaway had been seeing the swimmers from the elite countries were prepared to push that little bit harder.
Likewise, the confidence they showed was notable.
"It was an eye-opening experience in regards to that," he said.
"Seeing how world class athletes operate. The confidence they show as they’re walking around.
"Kristof Milak, I saw him as he was walking around the pool, before he broke the world record. The confidence of how he was walking, he exudes it.
"You could see he was going to do something special by how he was walking around."
Crosland had been pleased with the way Dunedin’s three swimmers — Erika Fairweather, Caitlin Deans and Ruby Heath — had performed during the trip.
All had encountered adversity, but pushed through to achieve handy performances.
Fairweather in particular had achieved highly, contracting Covid-19 just after the world championships, before putting out impressive displays at the Birmingham Games.
Crosland said those Games had been "unreal" and had just added to his motivation to continue striving for more.
"I’d love to be able to experience the Olympic Games.
"That’s definitely on my to-do list, to be able to get there. Obviously you’d want a few athletes you’re coaching to go there so they can experience it as well.
"If they’re not up to scratch then I won’t be able to go. So there’s motivation for me to get better as a coach and learn to help others get better."
Crosland had not had much time to gather his thoughts.
He is in Auckland for the national short course championships, which began yesterday.
