New international surf lifesaving athletes shine at Sanyo Cup in Japan

The Surf Life Saving NZ team have returned home from Japan after claiming second place at the Sanyo International Lifesaving Cup.

The 10 Kiwi athletes competed at the annual invitation-only lifesaving competition on June 22 and 23, hosted in Japan. This time the event was held in Fukuoka City, and included five international teams as well as a Japan A and Japan B team.

The New Zealand team’s coach Danny Morrison says the points result was a satisfying score, and our team did well.

The competition events are all beach-based, and each athlete competes in the same programme of events on both day 1 and day 2.

“It’s a really good development opportunity to expose some of our younger talent to international racing. And it was really pleasing to see some of the younger guys improve quite a bit from day 1 to day 2, when they’d got a second go,” Morrison says.

“The team that New Zealand generally selects for this event looks towards the future - if we need younger athletes to get a bit more development, or to give our more established athletes a bit more experience it’s a really good event.”

The team put in especially good showings in the board rescues and ski paddle events.

“We won three of four of the board rescues, and that was against the Australians, who are traditionally really, really strong in that event. And our ski paddlers really stepped up and delivered some great results,” he says.

Team captain Casie Fyall also stood out, claiming first place in three of her four individual events, as well as a third placing.

Morrison says he is especially proud of the athletes who were new to international competition: Molly Shivnan, Patrick Makgill and Hayley Cox.

“It was the first time they’ve worn our black caps for international racing, and those guys well and truly earned it, they just put everything on the line. The level of effort from them was really impressive.”  

The final team scores:
Australia (finished with 930 points), New Zealand (835), Japan A (690), South Africa (687), Japan (521), Spain (501), Hong Kong (370).

The New Zealand team:
Murdoch Finch, Omanu SLSC
Casie Fyall, Waikanae SLSC
Declan Dempster, Mt Maunganui LS
Hayley Cox, Lyall Bay SLSC
Libby Bradley, Mt Maunganui LS
Lincoln Waide, Mt Maunganui LS
Molly Shivnan, Omanu SLSC
Patrick Makgill, Red Beach SLSC
Samalulu Clifton, Mairangi Bay SLSC
Scott Cowdrey, Papamoa SLSC

New Zealand’s 1st placings:
Beach relay, day 1; Casie Fyall, Molly Shivnan, Libby Bradley, Hayley Cox
Tube rescue, day 1; Casie Fyall, Molly Shivnan, Libby Bradley, Samalulu Clifton
Board rescue, day 1; Scott Cowdry & Declan Dempster
Board rescue, day 2; Scott Cowdry & Declan Dempster
Board rescue, day 2; Molly Shivnan & Hayley Cox
Beach flags, day 2; Casie Fyall
Ski race, day 1; Hayley Cox
Ski race, day 2; Samalulu Clifton
Ski race, day 2; Lincoln Waide
Beach sprint, day 1; Casie Fyall
Beach sprint, day 2; Casie Fyall

Ends

** File photos for Surf Life Saving New Zealand can be found here.

For more information, please contact:
Danny Morrison, team coach
Phone: 022 176 9024 Email: dmorrison@sportstg.com

Surf Life Saving NZ media and communications
Phone: 021 636 647 Email: media@surflifesaving.org.nz