300 athletes take on Bay of Plenty Championships

Omanu Beach will host nearly 300 athletes this weekend for the 2017 Bay of Plenty Senior Championship.

The annual event will once again be spread over two days of competition; Saturday February 25 to Sunday February 26.

Individual events and IRB racing will be held on Saturday with the water rescue and team events taking place on Sunday.

Surf Life Saving New Zealand Eastern Region Sport Manager Mark Inglis says the event draws upon the best of the best, testing both their speed and endurance, to determine the 2017 Bay of Plenty Champions in their respective disciplines.

Mount Maunganui Lifeguard Service will be looking to defend the title for the 12th time, having held it since 2006.

The competition offers all of the events available at next month's New Zealand Surf Life Saving Championships, with the exclusion of the boat events.

"We have also introduced an Under 14 age group into the Board Rescue and Tube Rescue events on Sunday so the younger athletes can compete alongside the seniors and see how experienced lifeguards compete. We've got 40 entered so that will give them a good lead in to Oceans 17, the Under 14 New Zealand Surf Life Saving Championships, the following weekend," says Mr Inglis.

There are also 40 athletes entered into the Masters division.

To follow the live results visit http://liveresults.co.nz/sls or download the SLSNZ App.

Entries:

East End- 1
Lyall Bay- 11
Mt Maunganui- 82
Omanu- 67
Papamoa- 75
Pukehina- 4
Sunset Beach- 24 (6 IRB crews)
Waihi Beach- 14
Whakatane- 13
Whangamata- 2
Total= 293

For more information, please contact:

Lisa Smith, Media & Communications Manager, SLSNZ
Phone 09 303 9335 or 0276 488 823
Email lisa.smith@surflifesaving.org.nz