Hours of volunteer work and training, dedicated commitment to keeping our beaches safe, and fierce competitiveness in surf lifesaving sports have been recognised at the Surf Life Saving NZ Christchurch-Tasman Surf Life Saving Awards of Excellence.

Winners were announced at a ceremony at Christchurch’s Sixty6 on Saturday 11 May.                                                                   

Athlete of the year Louis Clark, of Taylors Mistake Surf Life Saving Club (SLSC), had a big year, including being named in the New Zealand Youth Squad for the third time for 2018/19, and heading to Japan for the International Lifesaving Cup in June.

He won 11 golds and a bronze at the SLSNZ Southern Regional Championships in 2019, and was selected for the SLSNZ Junior Black Fins team for the International Surf Rescue Challenge in Durban, in September.

Sports team of the year, Waimairi SLSC’s Men’s Open Canoe team, won gold for the long and short course at all three of their major events: the 2019 Canterbury Championships in February, the 2019 Southern Regional Championships in March, and the 2019 Surf Life Saving Championships in March, with the team of Mark Cresswell, Carl Righton, Greg Shea and Dan Firth.

Coach of the year Jonelle Quane from Sumner SLSC was chosen as Assistant Coach to the NZ Black Fins, acting as their pool coach, and was a New Zealand selector. 

“Jonelle has made a huge contribution to high performance sport at NZ level. She is currently mentoring a group of newly appointed selectors,” said Sumner SLSC coach Mark Robberds. 

“Jonelle has set an amazing example for our Canterbury athletes and coaches in terms of what can be achieved … and her door is always open to Canterbury athletes and coaches who want to tap into her vast experience.”

As a newly qualified senior lifeguard, the 2019 Lifeguard of the year Dean Le Warne, of North Beach SLSC, has instructed 16 new lifeguards and 17 patrol support people and crewmen in the last year, as well as carrying out more than 100 hours of beach patrols himself, and being North Beach’s Search and Rescue Coordinator.

He is club captain and patrol captain at North Beach SLSC and “he’s always quizzing and encouraging new lifeguards to better themselves,” said Jamie East, North Beach SLSC Chairman.

“He always leads by example and takes on all tasks that he expects his patrol team to do.”

The list of contributions made by Volunteer of the year Tom Denman of Sumner SLSC is impressive. As well as doing beach patrols as a lifeguard, he runs the Sumner Emergency Callout Squad, coordinates the club’s advanced lifeguard team, mentors lifeguards, runs weekly club training sessions, instructs for courses and has been an instructor at the National Lifeguard School in the past year. 

He is a committee member with Sumner SLSC, manages the club Facebook and emails and maintains and is responsible for its lifeguard equipment, including carrying out mechanical maintenance and repairs for the IRBs.

“Tom is seen as a hands-on leader within the club, with a passion for lifeguard excellence, continual improvement and IRB development,” said Sumner SLSC president Glenn Fergus.   

2019 Christchurch/Tasman Awards of Excellence winners:

Coach of the year – Jonelle Quane – Sumner SLSC

Official of the year – Mike Smith – Taylors Mistake SLSC

Sportsperson of the year – Louis Clark – Taylors Mistake SLSC

Te Onepoto award for junior coaching – Boetie Koekemoer – Sumner SLSC

Lifeguard of the year – Dean Le Warne – North Beach SLSC

Instructor of the year – Kate Suter – Sumner SLSC

Volunteer of the year – Tom Denman – Sumner SLSC

Rookie of the year – Hayley Reid, New Brighton SLSC and Agatha Weston, Taylors Mistake SLSC

The Allan Lee top beach team - South Brighton SLSC Open Men's Double Ski 

The Leon Peters top craft team – Waimairi SLSC open men’s and women’s canoe teams

Ends 

**Media kit:

Please click here for the Surf Life Saving New Zealand media kit including access to imagery.

For more information, please contact:

Scotty Roberts, Surf Life Saving NZ Christchurch/Tasman Sport Manager  

027 557 1013

scotty.roberts@surflifesaving.co.nz