Mt Maunganui, 22nd to 24th March
The Sunset Beach Young Guns and Sunset Sirens competed in the Surf Life Saving National Championships at Mt Maunganui over three days, 22nd to 24th March. The Young Guns finished the weekend with two bronze medals for both the Long and Short Courses in the U23 Men’s Surf Boat races. They were also awarded the Silver medal for the U23 men’s NZ Surf Boat Series. It was a long weekend of hard competition with some large, choppy surf and wet weather thrown in. Sunset Beach Lifeguards wish them all the best as they prepare to go to the Austrailian Championships at Kurrawa in two weeks. Should be a great experience for this team and no better place to do it than against the top class Australian Teams.
The Sunset Siren’s just missed out on a third place in the Long Course final after a photo finish for 2nd, 3rd and 4th put them in 4th place. They were also 4th in the short course final. Roma Prangley said the girls were stoked with the result and plan to win next season... Training starts on Wednesday. Go girls... 4th in the country after 4 months of rowing!
Taylor Shrimpton put in a big effort in the Open Women’s 2 km run for a 5th placing and Tanisha Robertson had a mid-pack finish in the run-swim-run for U19 Women’s. Sunset Beach Lifeguard Service think it’s awesome to see these competitors having a go and represent Sunset Beach in the Surf Sport Nationals. There are 2,000 other elite surf life savers from all over New Zealand that attend this National event. We hope to build our surf sport teams and offer as much opportunity as we can for our lifeguards to train and compete.
Big ‘thank you’ to Carolyn Edwards who also gives up her time to be an official at these events. She spent 4 days on the beach at Mt Maunganui. Very long days.
