Cool Chris’s rise hits new heights

GISBORNE teenager Chris Dawson was cool on the outside but doing cartwheels on the inside after earning a place in the New Zealand team for the German Cup international pool championships later this month.
“I’m pretty rapt . . . I tried to hold in my smile,” the 18-year-old Midway club member said this morning after an eight-strong New Zealand squad was yesterday named for an event rated second only to the world championships.
The Lytton High student earned his spot with a fine performance at the State New Zealand Pool Championships at Te Rapa, Hamilton over the weekend.
He was understandably still recovering this morning after competing in 12 events — team and individual — although was getting straight back into training today under his Enterprise Cars Swim Team coach Matt Martin.
Dawson, still eligible for the under-19 division, picked up several medals — the highlight his emphatic victory in the open men’s super lifesaver. This event, held only at open level, requires a competitor to complete a 200-metre course involving freestyle, recovering and carrying a manikin, donning fins and a rescue tube and towing a manikin.
Dawson was pipped by less than two seconds by a member of the Australia under-21 squad. However, the Aussies were ineligible for medals. Dawson was the first Kiwi home. His time of 2 minutes 25.12 seconds was over 16secs clear of Olympic Games kayaker Steve Ferguson (Piha), with Midway’s Cory Taylor third.
Dawson’s other successes over the three days included gold medals in the u19 men’s 100m tube swim with patient and fins, and 100m rescue medley, and silvers in the u19 50m swim with fins and 200m swim with obstacles.
The son of Peter and Fiona Dawson put himself into contention for the New Zealand team after a strong showing as a member of the New Zealand A squad at the Australian Pool Rescue Championships in Canberra in August.
This latest accolade is reward for what has been immense improvement — underlined at the weekend by him having noticeably closed the gap on Australian competitors who had “kicked me” at the Aussie nationals.
Dawson has been joined in the Scott Bartlett-coached New Zealand team by two former Gisborne surf lifesavers — prolific national titleholder Glenn Anderson (New Plymouth Old Boys) and Madison Boon (Mairangi Bay). Midway’s Carl Newman is assistant coach.
Dawson, who has only a couple of weeks of school to go, was considering shifting to Australia next year but will instead start an apprenticeship with his father’s building company.
His focus is on the German Cup, being held in Warendorf, Germany, but he also has the surf lifesaving nationals at Gisborne in March in the back of his mind. He will still be eligible for the u19 division and his aim is to medal in all swim events. He will then head to the Australian nationals where making finals will be his mission.