Kiwis have flying start on Day One of Sanyo Cup

The Kiwis came out flying on the first day of the 2015 Sanyo Bussan International Lifesaving Cup over in Japan yesterday, taking 9 golds, 8 silver and two bronze.

Mairangi Bay's Danielle McKenzie was quick to claim her first of three golds in the Women's board race with fellow team member, Piha's Hannah Williams coming in fifth.

Omanu's Max Beattie also claimed gold in the men's board race with Midway's Cory Taylor close behind in second.

McKenzie then took her second gold, winning the women's iron with Beattie also claiming the men's title.

Her third gold came in the women's board rescue with team mate Carina Doyle (St Clair). Over in the men's board rescue, Beattie and Taylor claimed silver.

Doyle added another silver to the medal tally in the women's surf race with Williams not too far behind in fifth. In the men's event, Taylor took silver with Papamoa's Ben Johnston claiming the team's first bronze.

Both the women's and men's teams took silver in the taplin and tube rescues.

The medals didn't end on the water. Over on the beach, the team were topping up the tally with the Kiwis claiming gold in both the men's and women's beach relay events.

Fitzroy's Zoe Hobbs and Mairangi Bay's Jake Hurley both won their beach sprint events while Hurley added a bronze in the men's beach flags and Hobbs took fourth in the women's event.

That left the New Zealand team in first place on the points table after day one with 328 points. Australia is close behind in second on 325 followed by Japan Open (270), Japan Youth (239), Canada (206), Hong Kong (159) and Chinese Taipei (51).

Assistant team manager Steve Vaughan says it was a fantastic first day of competition and he is incredibly proud of the team. "Now it's time to back up those great performances on Day Two," he says.

Keep an eye out on the High Performance Facebook page for news and updates and follow the Sanyo Bussan international Lifesaving Cup page for live updates.

Results:

Women's iron, Danielle McKenzie, 1st
Men's iron, Max Beattie, 1st
Women's board rescue, Danielle McKenzie & Carina Doyle, 1st
Women's board, Danielle McKenzie, 1st
Men's board, Max Beattie, 1st
Women's sprint, Zoe Hobbs, 1st
Men's sprint, Jake Hurley, 1st
Women's beach relay, 1st
Men's beach relay, 1st
Men's board, Cory Taylor, 2nd
Men's board rescue, Max Beattie & Cory Taylor, 2nd
Women's surf race, Carina Doyle, 2nd
Men's surf race, Cory Taylor, 2nd
Women's taplin, 2nd
Men's taplin, 2nd
Women's tube rescue, 2nd
Men's tube rescue, 2nd
Men's surf race, Ben Johnston, 3rd
Men's beach flags, Jake Hurley, 3rd
Women's beach flags, Zoe Hobbs, 4th
Women's surf race, Hannah Williams, 5th
Women's board, Hannah Williams, 5th

For more information, please contact:

Lisa Honeybone, Media & Communications Specialist, SLSNZ
Phone 09 303 9335 or 0276 488 823
Email lisa.honeybone@surflifesaving.org.nz