One wave the difference

SURF LIFESAVING

MIDWAY surf lifesaver Cory Taylor had ironman victory in sight when he fell off the side of a wave in the first round of the Sonic Surf series at Whangamata on Saturday.
Taylor had fought his way to the front of the leading pack on the final, ski leg when his craft went sideways on the last wave coming into the beach, putting paid to his chances of a top-three finish in the blue-ribbon event.
AJ Maney of Red Beach took full advantage of Taylor’s mishap to take first place. Omanu’s Max Beattie was second and former Gisborne surf lifesaver Glenn Anderson, now of New Plymouth Old Boys, was third.
Taylor made the top three in the open surf race, however, taking third place behind winner and clubmate Chris Dawson. Omanu’s Beattie took another second placing.
Wainui’s Toby Harris had a successful carnival. He was second in the open beach flags and, in the under-19 division, won the beach flags and both beach sprint races.
Clubmate Oliver Puddick was second in the open board, while another Wainui competitor, Ben Quilter, was second in the u19 surf race.
Midway’s Matt Scott was third in the u16 surf race.
Former Midway and now Mairangi Bay club member Madison Boon won the women’s ironman, and was second in the open surf race and board events.
Midway’s Lisa Barton was second in the women’s open ski.
In women’s u16 events, Wainui’s Georgia Harris won the surf race and was second in the diamond lady behind Hayley Cox of Lyall Bay.
Another Wainui competitor, Jasmine Smith, won the u16 board.
Meanwhile, triple Olympian Steven Ferguson — who competes in international kayaking with Gisborne-based Darryl Fitzgerald — pressed his claims for a return to the New Zealand surf lifesaving team.
Ferguson intends to retire from kayaking after the London Olympics but the 31-year-old wants to have one more crack at the New Zealand surf lifesaving team, with the world championships to be held in Adelaide two months after London.
He made a strong statement to selectors at Whangamata, clearing out to win the ski race and finishing fourth in the surf race, despite little in the way of recent swimming training.
“I’ve got good fitness from my kayaking and swimming’s a bit like riding a bike — I just swing my arms around and it all comes back to me when I’m under pressure,” Ferguson said.
The son of Olympic kayaking great and former surf ironman Ian Ferguson has plenty of pedigree, competing in breaststroke at the 1998 Commonwealth Games and the 2000 Sydney Olympics before switching to kayaking.
He also competed at the 2002, 2004 and 2006 surf lifesaving worlds and would love another crack six years after his last appearance. He has moved back into surf this season as coach of the Piha club.
“I’ve told the selectors I’m pretty keen, if that’s something they’re interested in. This will be my last year of kayaking and I’ll be extremely fit after the Olympics so I’ll try and bring that into surf if I get the opportunity. Once you’ve done it before, you understand what it takes to get there so it’s really just a case of putting the hard work in.”
Other features of the Whangamata carnival included the continued emergence of teenaged Papamoa sprinter Kodi Harman, who beat a classy field in the beach sprint just six days after winning the national schools 100-200m track double.
Arna Wright (Mt Maunganui) underlined her value to the New Zealand selectors, comfortably winning the beach sprint, taking out the women’s board race title and finishing third in the beach flags.
Another Papamoa teenager, Natalie Peat, won the open women’s surf race and finished third behind Boon and Mairangi Bay triathlete Danielle McKenze in the open ironwoman
The Sonic series moves on to the Central Regional championships at Oakura on January 15, followed by the Eastern Regionals — formerly the northern regionals — at Mt Maunganui on January 28 and 29 and the northern and southern championships on February 18 and 19.
Athletes need to compete at three of the five rounds, with the top 10 ironmen and women qualifying for the decider during lunchtime on the third day of the Oceans 12 championships at Mt Maunganui on February 25.