Bay of Plenty teams continue Oceans ’17 dominance

Teams from the Bay of Plenty have continued their dominance of the leaderboard at the third day of the annual Oceans '17 event, held this weekend in Mt Maunganui.

The local team from Mt Maunganui Lifeguard Service has maintained their lead from yesterday, while their neighbours from Omanu Surf Life Saving Club have moved up to second equal with team from Waihi Beach Lifeguard Services Inc heading into the final day of action tomorrow.

The only non-Bay of Plenty team in the top five, Waikanae Surf Life Saving Club from near Gisborne, finished the day in fourth ahead of Papamoa Surf Life Saving Club, also from the Bay of Plenty, who finished the day in fifth.

Red Beach Surf Life Saving Club finishes the day in sixth and is the top placed team from outside the Eastern Region, which covers beaches from Waihi Beach to Gisborne.

East End Surf Life Saving Club, Maranui Surf Life Saving Club and Whangamata Surf Life Saving Club are all seventh-equal on 14 points leading into the final day of the junior surf life saving competition, showing how close the competition is.

With almost 900 athletes under 14 years old taking part this weekend, event manager Scott Bicknell said he continues to be impressed by the athletes' skill and attitude at the event.

"All of the athletes are doing an amazing job out there. They are all giving it 100 percent and it's great for us as organisers to see how much they are enjoying the competition and supporting each other."

"It's also still very close for the top spots so I'm sure they [athletes] will be fighting hard tomorrow. Most of the finals are on tomorrow which could be a game-changer for many of our teams, so it's sure to be interesting to see how they go."

Tomorrow's events include the Grand Cameron race which consists of four athletes; one swimmer, one board paddler and two runners and is one of the biggest races on the event schedule. The surf race, board race and diamond race finals are also all due to be held tomorrow with dozens of points up for grabs.

The final day of the 2017 Oceans event gets underway tomorrow from 8.00am at Mt Maunganui. Spectators are welcome and spectator entry to the event is free with plenty of food, beverage and sport retailers on site.

Points after Day 3:

For more information, please contact:

Alana McIsaac, Media & Communications Contractor, SLSNZ
Phone 027 515 7157
Email alana@exceleratemedia.co.nz