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Two Golds To Finish Off World Championships
Monday, 3 October 2022Two Golds To Finish Off World Championships
The Black Fins have closed out their Surf Lifesaving World Championships campaign with two more world titles. On the last day at the beach in Riccione, Italy Mairangi Bay’s Danielle McKenzie and Midway’s Cory Taylor added two gold medals to the team’s overall tally. McKenzie capped her status as the best female ski paddler in the world with a dominant display leaving the rest of the field in her wake.
And Taylor added the board race title to the Oceanman (Ironman) and Tube Rescue titles he won on day one and two. It was a tougher battle for Taylor only cementing the win in the final few metres on the water and the run up the beach.
“What a way to finish the competition,” New Zealand Surf Lifesaving high performance manager Tanya Hamilton says.
“Danielle and Cory have worked incredibly hard over the years as Black Fins and their commitment to deliver has been phenomenal.
“The grit and determination they’ve shown is brilliant, they have led by example here.”
McKenzie’s win opened the ledger for the Black Fins beating out Australia’s Naomi Scott and Harriett Brown with Midway’s Liv Corrin finishing in fourth.
It was an impressive performance from McKenzie who earlier in the year won the prestigious Australian ski title, she dominated the field holding a significant lead coming into the finish leaving the rest to battle for the minor placings.
With relatively flat conditions prevailing in Riccione, the board race was always going to be a head to head battle. And it didn’t disappoint. Taylor, Australia’s Kendrick Louis, Omanu’s Max Beattie, Australia’s Ben Carberry and Great Britain’s Robert Whittaker all within a few metres of each other coming into the finish.
Battling lumpy chop in the shallows, Louis chose to jump off his board with the intention of bunny hopping his way to the win but it turned out to be a mistake as Taylor took advantage and accelerated away to race up the beach for the win.
Australian Lani Pallister dominated the women’s surf race winning ahead of Scott and France’s Margaux Fabre, with Omanu’s Molly Shivnan finishing fourth and Corrin fifth.
Taylor added a bronze to his collection of medals in the men’s surf race behind Australians James Koch and Ben Carberry. Midway’s Chris Dawson finished in 12th spot.
The mixed Ocean Lifesaver relay finished competition for the Open teams at the beach and it was Australia who finished off their campaign in first place with the Kiwis – Michael Hanna, Corrin, Beattie and McKenzie – taking second place.
With competition complete the Black Fins finished in second place overall behind Australia who take home the coveted World Championship title.
“There were lots of really amazing performances across the six days of competition,” Hamilton says.
“We welcomed new Black Fins to the world stage and saw some of our more accomplished campaigners still standing on the top of the podium.
“With the next world champs only two years away on the Gold Coast we will take a bit of time off and then get back into planning for the next campaign.”
The Black Fins finished their campaign with 23 medals in total, 6 golds, 11 silvers and 6 bronzes. Australia took home 40 medals, 21 golds, 11 silvers and 8 bronzes. And in third spot overall, Germany collected 15 medals in total, 4 golds, 6 silver and 5 bronze.
Australia finished the world championships in top spot on the points table with 951 points, New Zealand were second with 801 and France third with 566.50.
Keepa’s Silver Closes Out Junior Black Fins Campaign
Waikanae’s Jack Keepa has added another silver medal to the Junior Black Fins’ tally on the last day of competition at the Surf Lifesaving World Championships in Riccione, Italy. Keepa’s swim was the highlight of the day for the Junior Black Fins in the pool amongst a number of solid A and B final performances.
In the women’s 100m rescue medley Lucy Bartlett finished fifth in the A final with Talitha McEwan third in the B final. Gus Shivnan was first in the men’s 100m rescue medley B final. Mairangi Bay’s Zoe Crawford finished fourth in the A final of the 100m manikin carry with Bartlett third in the B final.
Keepa went into the final as the fourth fastest qualifier starting lane six. He put together a flawless performance to finish just behind Italy’s Davide Cremonini in a final dominated by Northern Hemisphere swimmers.
Shivnan, Crawford, Keepa and Bartlett combined for the last event of the programme at the pool, the 4x50m mixed lifesaver relay, finishing seventh in the A final.
The Junior Black Fins finished their World Championships campaign in second spot behind Australia.
“The Junior Black Fins are the future of the sport for New Zealand, there will be members of this team who are likely to be part of the Black Fins in the next World Champs in the Gold Coast in 2024,” New Zealand Surf Lifesaving high performance manager Tanya Hamilton says.
“The learnings they will take from this campaign will be impossible to put a value on, they’ll be much better athletes for the experience.
“We saw some impressive performances here and the team can be very proud of that.”
National Teams Open Final Points
- Australia 951.00
- New Zealand 801.00
- France 566.50
- Germany 537.50
- Italy 534.00
- Spain 385.00
- Japan 364.00
- Great Britain 335.50
- South Africa 311.50
- Belgium 271.00
National Teams Youth Final Points
- Australia 977.00
- New Zealand 699.00
- Italy 664.00
- Spain 585.00
- France 552.50
- Germany 482.00
- South Africa 473.00
- Great Britain 461.00
- Japan 251.00
- Belgium 212.00