Podium finishes for all three kiwi teams at the Lifesaving World Championships

NATIONAL TEAMS OVERALL POINT SCORES

Open: 1. Australia (907 points), 2. Black Fins (873 points), 3. France (629 points)
Youth: 1. Australia (973 points), 2. Junior Black Fins (774 points), 3. France (759 points)
IRB: 1. Black Props (136 points), 2. Australia (118 points), 3. Great Britain (66 points)

All three kiwi teams have taken podium finishes at the Lifesaving World Championships on the Gold Coast of Australia, with the Black Props being named world champions in the IRB racing, and the Black Fins and Junior Black Fins both taking silver medals, breaking multiple world records and New Zealand records in the process.

Up against the world’s best lifesavers from 44 countries, the kiwi teams put on an epic display of lifesaving prowess on the Gold Coast. It was an effort that saw them break a stunning four world records.

Black Fin Fergus Eadie (Mairangi Bay) put on a blistering performance in the pool competition, breaking two world records, in the Men’s 100m Manikin Carry, with a time of 43.97 seconds, and in the Men’s 50m Manikin Carry, with a time of 27.2 seconds.

Supported by his extended family, who were wearing matching Fergus ‘face’ t-shirts, Fergus says he was definitely feeling the pressure.

“I thought the time was going to be good but I didn’t think it was going to be that good so I am so happy. To have all my family here and do it in front of them, it’s special. I would not be here without them, they support day in day out, everything they do for me, this is not just for me, it’s for them,” he says.

Meanwhile, in the Women’s 100m Manikin Tow, Zoe Crawford (Mairangi Bay) set a new world record of 55.30 seconds, only to have it broken by team-mate Madison Kidd (Whangamata) in the following heat in a time of 55.03 seconds.

Meanwhile, an outstanding pool swim from Junior Black Fin Zoe Pedersen (Red Beach) saw her set a new Youth World Record in the 100m Rescue Medley, with a time of 1:09.10.

In addition to their World Record performances, competitors across the teams broke nine New Zealand records in total. The New Zealand records came from Black Fins Zoe Crawford in the 100m Manikin Carry with a time of 51.28s, Fergus Eadie in the 100m Rescue Medley with a time of 58.06s, Chris Dawson (Midway) in the 100m Manikin Tow with a time of 49.37s. In the team events, the Black Fins set national records in the Women’s 4x 50m Medley Relay with a time of 1.38.94, the Men’s 4x 50m Medley Relay with a time of 1.29.47, and the Women’s 4x 50m Obstacle Relay team events with a time of 1.48.85.

Junior Black Fin Zoe Pedersen also set a New Zealand record in the 50m Manikin Carry, with a time of 1.09.10.

Black Fins win silver

Black Fins Campaign Lead Steve Kent says that the Black Fins won gold in 11 events, with a total of 29 podium finishes, which saw them take the overall silver medal. He says the gold medal-winning performances from Molly Shivnan (Omanu), Zoe Crawford, Madison Kidd, and Rae Kwan (Ōrewa) were an absolute highlight of the ocean competition, as was the gold-medal performances from Molly Shivnan, Olivia Corrin (Midway), Zoe Crawford, and Briana Irving in the Women’s Oceanwoman Relay.

“Joe Collins’ (Fitzroy) never-give-up attitude saw him take first place in the Men’s Oceanman final, which was simply incredible, and a classy performance from our mixed lifesaver team of Briana Irving, Louis Clark (Mairangi Bay), Olivia Corrin, and Cory Taylor (Midway) saw us win the last event of the ocean competition, the Mixed Ocean Lifesaver Relay,” he says.

“It has been an excellent campaign from our perspective. It was incredibly close between us and the Aussies, but they just managed to pip us at the post in points accumulation. The team showed heaps of heart, and while second overall hurts a little we’re just incredibly proud and pleased with the result.

“We have a youthful team, so we’ll be working even harder to reclaim the overall title at the 2026 Lifesaving World Championships.”

Black Fins captain Cory Taylor says that the five-day event had been incredible, with the team racing “phenomenally”.

“It was tight. It was awesome going into the finals neck-and-neck with the Australians. While we may have fallen slightly short at the end, that’s what makes it exciting. We had some big days in the sun and good racing all around, so the team should be super proud with how they went, including the management and officials – who are all volunteers – that came to support us,” he says.

Junior Black Fins win silver

The Junior Black Fins won gold in five events, with 19 podium finishes in total, which ultimately took them into a silver medal spot.

Junior Black Fins Campaign Lead Zac Franich says that the grueling event format lived up to expectations.

“The Worlds format is tough, especially with the challenging beach conditions Kurrawa provides. The team raced out of their skins across the first two days on the beach, with outstanding individual performances from Tara Shotter (East End) and Laine Creighton (Red Beach). There were others, but we just didn’t quite get the rub of the green on a few occasions”.

“The challenge was to keep the team positive and fresh to really attack the pool program”. Which is exactly what they did, led by captain Milana Tapper (Whangamatā), who claimed the team’s first world title of the competition, obliterating the 200m Obstacle event with, beating her personal best by five seconds on the first day of pool racing.

“We’re super proud of the way the team backed up their beach performance in the pool. Milana really set the tone, which the rest of the team followed. Zoe Pedersen set a world record and won another world title in the 50m Carry, Bella Wansbrough (East End) was exceptional in winning the 200m Super Lifesaver event with the boys also racing lights-out. Our Pool athletes medaled in seven of the nine team events in the pool – a real testament to the depth and ability of our team”.

Black Props successfully defend world title

In their competition on Wednesday 4 September, the Black Props successfully defended the world title they won in 2018.

The team were in incredible form, with five first-place finishes and two second-place finishes across their seven finals, which saw them ultimately named world champions in the IRB racing.

After having to cancel their final practice session the day before the competition due to dangerous conditions, the team was pleased to see conditions looking good on the morning of the competition. However, the wind picked up as the morning progressed, making for a technical course, with the wind shifting the 1.5m swells and making it tricky for the racers to pick lines.

Black Props Campaign Lead Jaron Mumby says that, when it comes to IRB racing, the ocean is always in control.

“Mike Tyson said ‘everyone has a plan until they get punched in face’, and it’s the same with our sport. The crews did exceptionally well to keep to their game plan and race safely in some tricky conditions. It was pretty bloody special to come home with five goals and two silvers team, as well as the world title. We’ve been working towards this for six years, so it’s a great result,” he says.

“As made our way through the heats, the racing was really tight, which we really enjoyed. Being on a tight course with just a few teams competing in each race was a good format for us and suited our racing style. We knew Australia were going to be our toughest competition, and that took away some of their home court advantage because the courses were more manageable.”

The Australian and New Zealand crews were neck-and-neck until the Men’s Mass Rescue, which put the Black Props in front. The team had built some momentum already, settled themselves, and took the opportunity to deliver what Jaron Mumby describes as “a perfect race”.

But a surprise was in store – a challenge from one of the other teams meant the final would need to be re-run later in the day, putting the Black Props points at risk.

A win from the Black Props in the Women’s Mass Rescue put them six points ahead on the leaderboard. The kiwis were the only finishers in the scrappy race, which saw one of the Australian drivers, Bailey Nash, break their arm.

“Those sorts of injuries can be tricky because the teams only have a small crew, and any injuries need to be covered from within. That gave us a bit of an advantage – they were washed back 10 metres by a wave and we took out the race. We are lucky to have well-balanced crew that gave us back-ups in the event something like that should happen to us,” says Jaron Mumby.

“We didn’t want to shut up shop and rest on our laurels. Winning the men’s and women’s tube rescues after that was huge and that sealed it for us.

The re-run of the men’s mass rescue final saw the Black Props wanting to prove a point.

“It was really the race of the day,” says Jaron Mumby. “It showed the heart of the team.”

The final race of the day was the was the mixed teams rescue, which was deservedly won by Australia, and the Black Props were world champions.

Mumby says that the kiwi contingent “owned the beach” in terms of support.

“It was incredible. We had almost double the number and double the noise of any other team – there was a sea of black on the beach. Makes you proud as a nation that a team can attract so much support, and that certainly played a big role in our success,” he says.

The Black Props have now shifted their attention to the inter-club competition, where they will be competing as Sunset Beach.