Mount Maunganui win another title as a legend retires (maybe…)

Mount Maunganui Lifeguard Service have put in a full club effort to come away with the Paul Kent Trophy as winner of the 2022 Surf Life Saving New Zealand Pool Rescue Championships.

The Mount juniors set the scene on day one, amassing 100 points towards the overall club title. The under 11 pair of Steven Thompson and Kaleb Dawson led the way with 6 golds, 2 silver and 1 bronze and 4 gold, 3 silver and 1 bronze respectively.

Mount Maunganui coach, John ‘Spindles’ Bryant commented “The juniors were amazing, they exceeded expectations, especially as many of the squad were experiencing their first National Competition”

The introduction of composite teams for the juniors ensured maximum participation, in particular for those clubs with a smaller number of competitors.

SLSNZ Event Manager, Mark Inglis said “It was awesome to get the event underway with the juniors. It’s the first time clubs have been able to come together on a National scale for quite a while so it was great to see lots of smiles and reconnecting with friends as well as some great racing”.

A new National record was set in the U14 Patient Tow, with the Red Beach pair of Ryan Wyatt & Dylan Blanchard posting a time of 1.05.28. The previous record having stood since 2007.

East End’s Jack Rust also broke a NZ record, hitting 22.08 for the 50m swim with fins, replacing Michael Pickett’s record from 2015.

Days two and three saw the Seniors (14+) and Masters (30+) take to the pool.

The senior competition was a lot closer with Red Beach, Mairangi Bay, East End and Orewa all challenging Mount Maunganui for the National title.

Despite only recently returning from the Lifesaving World Championships in Italy a few days prior, the Black Fins pair of Steve Kent and Fergus Eadie donned their Mairangi Bay club caps to dominate the open mens division, finishing one-two in all the individual events.

Kent picked up gold in the 50 metre swim with fins, 200 metre obstacles, 200 metre super lifesaver and 100 metre manikin carry while Eadie was able to head off his team-mate for gold in the 100 metre rescue medley and 50 metre manikin carry.

The two combined to win gold in line throw before joining their Mairangi Bay club-mates to take gold in the medley, obstacle and pool lifesaver relays.

After a stellar career, which has included competing at seven World Championships, achieving multiple world titles and records and even more National titles and records, Kent has indicated that he will be hanging up his race togs in the near future.

Fittingly, he was acknowledged at the event with a video tribute featuring former and current team-mates congratulating him for his immense contribution to Pool Rescue and Surf Life Saving in New Zealand.

Kent commented “To be recognised by my peers and mentors at the event was really special and while im still a bit jet-lagged, it was great to be back racing for my club and it was fun battling Fergus in the individual events. It was also awesome to see so many of the kids I coach at Coast Swim Club competing for various clubs and doing well”.

In the age group divisions, Orewa’s Jack Handford and East End’s McKenzie Rowlands lit up the under 15s, both setting three individual New Zealand records each on their way to a swag of medals.

In the under 17s, Red Beach’s Jasper Cornish had a great weekend of racing, picking up five individual golds and two silvers as well as three golds and two more silvers in team events as Red Beach racked up 107 points in the senior competition.

In the under 19 division, Mount Maunganui’s Pippa Nicol and Orewa’s Raeann Kwan were amongst the medals with Kwan picking up four individual golds in a haul of 13 medals overall, while Nicol scooped seven individual and five team medals.

The masters division was a two-way battle between Red Beach and Waihi, with Waihi managing to grab some crucial wins in the mixed relay events and come out on top.

While Red Beach took out the coveted Mega Relay and topped the senior points score, it wasn’t enough to catch the Mount.

Reflecting on the weekend, Spindles commented “for the seniors to back up the efforts of the juniors was a great outcome, I think nearly everyone got on the podium throughout the weekend”. He also picked out Nicol and Junior Black Fin Talitha McEwan for special mentions, “it’s Pippa’s first year with the club and she swam personal best times in nearly all her races, which is an outstanding achievement and for Talitha to come back from World Champs and get straight back into the pool and pick up medals across the under 17, under 19 and open divisions shows her character and commitment”.  

Event Referee, Greg Rieger was happy with how the competition ran “we had officials and event support from around the country volunteer their time to make it happen and things ran pretty smoothly given it’s the first one we have run the event for a couple of years and we were using a new event management system. Overall it was a great weekend”

Paul Kent Trophy Points (Juniors & Seniors)

Masters Trophy

For all results go to: https://www.wavesresults.surflifesaving.org.nz/competition/349/wavesResults

New Zealand Records