Waimairi Club Is Likely To Retain Championship Surf Pennant

Press, Volume CII, Issue 30302, 30 November 1963, Page 9

Waimairi Club Is Likely To Retain Championship Surf Pennant

Although there win be more emphasis placed on the unspectacular six and four-man rescue events un the four Canterbury championship surf life-saving carnivals this season, it seems likely that the Waimairi club will once again retain its position at the top by winning the championship pennant.

Waimairi is at present the co-holder of the New Zealand championship and although the national junior belt champion, R. Gaskell, is overseas on an American Field Service Scholarship and the national resuscitation champion. S. Smythe.

is moving to Auckland ■when the Christmas school holidays begin, it will be able to present a very strong front.

The Waimairi seniors will be considerably strengthened by the inclusion of three of last season’s top juniors. R McDowell. T. Jay. and P. Davies. McDowell represented the province last year at the Royal carnival and is the present Canterbury junior paddleboard champion. Jay has been placed third in the national open paddle board championship for the last two seasons and Davies has been showing improving form as a belt swimmer He was runner-up in the Canterbury junior belt championship last season.

Other seniors -who will be appearing in Waimairi colours include T. Gaskell, the

present Canterbury belt champion, I. Grieg a belt championship finalist. M. Stevens, the Canterbury surf ski rescue champion, and E. Leask. I. Graham. R. Ironside, T. Stephens, D. Stewart and possibly J Hughes, a former surf ski champion. G Stringer, the current South Island 220-yard pool champion, heads a strong list of juniors. A newcomer, B. Spear, is expected to do well. He is a Canterbury junior water polo representative. Other juniors available include A. McDonald, P. Stevens, and M. Jamieson. Misses C. McDonald and G. Johnson will lead the womens contingent. The prominent pool swimmer, Miss H. Broughton, will also be competing. It is doubtful which club will provide Waimairi with its greatest opposition. Taylor’s Mistake will certainly be well in the running. G. Le Cren, a Canterbury representative last' season, has been showing good form in his club races and is expected to do well. I. McDonald is another strong swimmer who should be well up in belt events. He was runner-up in the Canterbury senior championship two seasons ago. B. Turpin agid J. Turpin will also be competing. J. Stead, who was a member of the six-man team which won the junior New Zealand title last season, will again be competing as a junior. He is a very promising competitor and should be a great asset. Other juniors include P. Goldsmith and J. McNaught. The New Zealand women’s surf race champion, Miss L. Harrow, will be a leading member of the women’s

team from the club and should be a likely candidate for the new Canterbury women s belt event. Once again South Brighton will base its hopes on the hardy, experienced core of A. Lee and G. Silvester. Lee. who is now 33, is one of the oldest surfers still: competing regularly. Likej wine, he is improving with age. He was second in the Canterbury surf race championship last year and has represented the province on: numerous occasions. Silves-i ter has proved an excellent; team man, representing: Canterbury in 1960, 1961, i and last season. Other ■ seniors include P. Ross, K. Lan yon, A. Johnston, and B. Campbell. In the junior ranks South Brighton is not so strong, with J. Robinson, A. Harris, N. Brixton and L. Richards among those who have yet to prove themselves. The outstanding long distance woman swimmer. Miss R.

McKenzie, should prove most prominent in the women’s surf and belt races in Canterbury and on a national scale. New Brighton should be able to pick up some easy points with its two surf boats, but in the team events its chances are not rated very high. Individually, some club members should be well placed. G. Dann, who won the Canterbury senior surf race championship last year, is again in fine form and should retain his title comfortably. He will also be a likely contender for the belt title. M. Scott, an erratic swimmer whose best performance was a second in the surf race championship in 1962, will be competing. K. Chamberlain, who represented Canterbury last season at the Royal carnival. and I. Foubister, a beach sprint title contender, are among the more consistent of New Brighton’s seniors. A junior who could make

a name for himself is G. Bacon. He showed excellent form last year and with another year behind him should be well up in all junior individual swimming events.

Sumner is another club which will be represented by very experienced surfers in the senior ranks. R. House, K. McDonald, H. Moore and A. McPhail are all competitors of repute. McPhail is one of the leading senior surf swimmers and will be one of Dann’s greatest rivals for the surf race title this season. McDonald is the present Canterbury paddle board champion and a former New Zealand paddle board and surf ski title-holder. D. Quane, the current New Zealand surf ski champion and run-ner-up last season in the national paddle board championship, will again be contesting both events. At North Beach, the Canterbury water polo representatives, D. Cutting and L. Mclntosh, will be entering their first season as seniors. Cutting is the present Canterbury junior belt champion and Mclntosh was a Canterbury junior surf representative last season. The beach sprint expert and Canterbury surf ski champibn, R. Dalton, will be competing. His brother, D. Dalton, a Canterbury representative, will also be representing North Beach. B. Dasler, former junior beach sprint and surf ski champion, is another prominent surfer appearing for the club.

Kotuku (West Coast) is again expected to make an appearance but it is unlikely to provide the six main local clubs with much opposition. It is doubtful whether the newest club, the Central Brighton Ladies’ Club, will be entering in any events this season.