Cheering results, but cheerless weather at Warrington

Press, 9 February 1983, Page 26

Cheering results, but cheerless weather at Warrington

By

RAY CAIRNS

ii ine results ano periormances on the dreadful bleak Warrington beach at the week-end are any indication, Canterbury lifeguards can expect some rich rewards in little more than three weeks at Paekakariki. The Fresh Up South Island championships were marred cruelly by the abominable weather, and if Warrington, near Waitati, is to be considered now as the only major championship venue serving Otago clubs — and that seems to be the case — then thought should be given to the future of the championships. Canterbury clubs provide by far the greater number of contestants; they have a strong case for arguing that the championships should be held two years in three on a Canterbury beach. For Warrington, sad to relate, now has a long record for exposing lifeguards to very cold conditions, for all that it provides an otherwise suitable beach for a large championship.

It was really no surprise that Otago juniors should have led the way in the swimming events, with Alistair Park (St Kilda) compiling an outstanding record: victories in each of the surf race, belt race, tube rescue and surf teams' championship. It was usually his clubmate and fellow national representative, lan Woolford, who was chasing him home, with Stephen Mellsop (Brighton) and Gary Connor (Waikuku Beach) the best of the rest.

There were bold predictions from the locals that Ricky Laing, yet another St Kilda national representa-

tive. would emulate Park in the senior grade, but there was a better showing from Canterbury clubs, there. Laing won only the surf race, individual and teams, with Chris Ellis (Waikuku Beach) beating him home in the belt race, and Carl Immers and John Dimick (Taylors Mistake) showing the way in the tube rescue.

Laing and Lars Humer, the national team pairing, did not even take second, Nigel Ward and Lachie Marshall, New Brighton's fast developers. beating them home. Ward, indeed, had another fine championship — though not with the rich rewards he won as a junior last season — for he was also second to Geoff Walker (Waimairi) in the senior iron man, and ahead of his older brother, Stephen. The championships served to confirm many predictions. The canoe events were generally dominated by Dunedin crews, though the North Beach (especially) and New Brighton juniors kept them up to their work. The Taylors Mistake males and Waimairi and South Brighton women showed the way in the drill events, too, though the Taylors Mistake juniors were denied a treble by a sterling Oreti performance in the four-man, the first appearance by that little Southland club in the championships for many years.

A little strangely, the junior beach events returned the same results in each case: Karl Gallagher (Waikuku Beach) beating home Andrew Smith (St Kilda) and Wayne Parker (Sumner) in both sprint and flags, but Waimairi beat off Waikuku in the relay. Gary Parker (Sumner) nosed out Chris Campbell in the beach sprint, but the consistent Spencer Park man celebrated his first selection for the Canterbury team by taking the flags’ with a superb final dash against Waikuku’s Mike Gale.

Though Taylors Mistake was a narrow winner of the over-all championship from St Kilda. and the latter reversed the result in the junior grade, some of the best performances came from North Beach. The A boat crews were never beaten — though the juniors, sadly, had no opposition; the senior beach relay team led home New Brighton; and Leon Donnelly and Stephen Rowe sprang a major surprise with their junior ski rescue victory. But it was not quite the surprise that was the junior iron man win of Bruce Lomax (Taylors Mistake), reluctant to even compete. He outsprinted Woolford to win in easily his best iron man performance.

A club-mate, David Hill, also got his best individual result when he led home a third Taylors Mistake lifeguard, Cameron Graham, in the surf ski, while one of the best finishers of the lot was in the malibu board, where Brent Todd (Sumner) retained his title, but only after a desperate struggle with Warren Greig (New Brighton).

There was nothing very surprising in the variety of victories to Walker, or Darryl Neate’s ski rescue win, or the malibu board relay performance of Simon Davis and Laurie McKeown (Taylors Mistake). What was more surprising was that Canterbury swimmers should have made a clean sweep of the women’s events, yet Janice Murdoch (Waimairi) did not win a single individual title. Teresa Stanley (Taylors Mistake) and Sonia O'Connell (Waimairi) pushed her back to third in the surf race. Jo Barry (South Brighton) and Megan Tohill (St Kilda) led the way in the belt; Lynette Griffiths and Andrea McKendry (New Brighton) embellished growing reputations in the tube rescue. But there must have been satisfaction for Murdoch that her six-place team won a

two points victory over South Brighton, even if the latter still showed the way in the four-place.

Anthea Forbes. of Waimairi. won herself three

titles: in the malibu board, beach flags and beach relay.

but it was Jane Perkins (New Brighton) who could lay claim to being the best South Islander in women's craft events. Narrowly second to Forbes in the board, she also won the surf ski race convincingly.

A club-mate of Forbes. Mary Gibson, was another treble winner, foremost among them her retaining of the beach sprint title.