More Gold For The Black Fins

More Gold For The Black Fins

The Black Fins men have added more gold to the team’s tally at the Surf Lifesaving World Championships in Riccione, Italy.  Mairangi Bay’s Steve Kent and Fergus Eadie alongside Midway’s Chris Dawson and Cory Taylor have won gold in the men’s tube rescue, in stunning fashion.  After an impressive heat where the team left their rivals in their wake the final was bound to be epic.

As the elder statesmen of the team, Kent and Dawson did not fail to stand up when it counted. Dawson got off the beach like he’d been shot out of a canon, dolphin-diving halfway to the cans and gave Kent a handy lead heading in to rescue him.  On their way home to the beach, the Kiwis and Australians were neck and neck coming into the final stages with nothing separating them.

Stunning skills saw the Black Fins gain the advantage when Kent released the tube strap moments earlier than his Australian rival to send Eadie and Taylor charging to the beach with Dawson in-hand and to claim victory.

“That was a special race,” New Zealand Surf lifesaving high performance manager Tanya Hamilton says.

“The skill on show plus the tactics and the absolute effort by all of the boys was just phenomenal. We’re all so proud of what they’ve done.”

Midway’s Liv Corrin opened up the day’s medal haul with a silver in the women’s board race, finishing second to Australia’s Harriett Brown and ahead of the other Australian in the field Naomi Scott.  Mairangi Bay’s Danielle McKenzie was fourth behind Scott just missing out on a medal in the final run up the beach.

The men’s ski race was tipped on its head for both the New Zealand and Australian teams with South African Mark Keeling taking the gold and Germany’s Nordin Sparmann the silver.  Top Australian hope Kendrick Louis was third with Ben Carberry finishing fourth and the two Kiwis, Max Beattie and Cory Taylor coming home in fifth and sixth respectively.

In the women’s tube rescue, McKenzie, Corrin, Molly Shivnan and Nat Peat combined for fourth place.  More metalware was to come for the Kiwis after the men’s tube rescue gold. The women’s Ocean Relay was next with McKenzie, Corrin, Shivnan and Waikanae’s Brianna Irving collecting solver behind Australia.

McKenzie set a solid platform from the start, leading the field around the ski leg before handing over to Corrin on board.  Corrin maintained the Kiwi team’s lead, sending swimmer Shivnan in ahead of Australia’s Lani Pallister. Pallister, an Australian Commonwealth Games champion swimmer, surged through into first place leaving the Black Fins to settle for second in what was an incredibly hard fought race.

Taylor, Dawson, Max Beattie and Michael Hanna combined for the men’s Ocean relay event and again it was brilliant showing as the Kiwis and Australians battled side by side to the finish with the Black Fins picking up another silver.

In the beach flags final round Madi Kidd finished ninth in the women’s event with Hanna seventh in the men’s.  With one day left on the programme the Black Fins are in second spot on the overall ladder. The final day sees the team contest the ski race for women, board race for men, surf races for both and finally to close the championships, the Mixed Ocean lifesaver relay.

Junior Black Fins Maintain Second Spot

Day two of the Junior Black Fins’ campaign in the pool at the world championships has seen another silver medal for Mairangi Bay’s Zoe Crawford.  Crawford qualified in an outside lane for the final of the 200m super lifesaver event but that didn’t stop her making waves.

A great start saw Crawford sitting amongst the leaders at the first turn and she never let that slip throughout the race to battle home in the final 50m manikin tow for silver and a new New Zealand record by nearly four seconds in 2:26.75, the old record was 2:30.73.

“The tenacity that the Junior Black Fins are showing throughout the pool competition is amazing,” New Zealand Surf Lifesaving high performance manager Tanya Hamilton says.

“Zoe’s silver in one of the most difficult and technical races is fantastic. It was a brilliantly executed race.”

Finals got underway for the second day at the pool with Talitha McEwan and Lucy Bartlett in the A final for the 50m manikin carry with McEwan finishing fifth, setting a new New Zealand record, and Bartlett seventh.  In the men’s event, Gus Shivnan was seventh in the A final with Lachie Falloon eighth in the B final.

Bartlett, McEwan, Crawford and Summer Rolston combined in the 4x25m manikin relay to finish sixth.  And in the men’s event, the Junior Black Fins - Jayden Murphy, Jack Keepa, Shivnan and Falloon – finished seventh.

McEwan was fifth in the B final of the women’s 200m super lifesaver with Keepa finishing third in the B final of the men’s event.  The 4x50m medley relay finished the day off for the Junior Black Fins with Rolston, Bartlett, McEwan and Crawford coming in fourth. Unfortunately the men’s team – George Wenman, Keepa, Shivnan and Falloon – were disqualified in their final.

After day five of competition, the Junior Black Fins continue to hold their spot in second place on the overall ladder behind Australia.  The last day of competition for the Junior Black Fins sees them chasing world titles in the 100m rescue medley, 100m manikin tow and the 4x50m mixed lifesaver relay.