Moodie wins ironman, Taranaki take surf league spoils

Hawke’s Bay ironman Daniel Moodie successfully defended his crown in the glamour event of the Lion Foundation Surf League in Mount Maunganui today but the Taranaki team took home the overall spoils.
Moodie, who is now based at the Northcliffe club in Queensland, effortlessly eased home in the swim to beat Gisborne’s Mike Janes and Bay of Plenty’s Brad Wilson to the line.
It was Moodie’s sixth consecutive ironman win in the interprovincial surf competition and for good measure he picked up the surf race titles both days.
“I was pushed pretty hard in the board and the ski legs but Mike dropped off a wave near the end of the ski and eased the pressure a bit,” Moodie said.
“I didn’t really need to over-exert myself in the swim – I just concentrated on keeping my stroke nice and long.”
Moodie now heads back across the Tasman for the Queensland state championships in three weeks, returning to New Zealand next month to try to collect his fourth consecutive national ironman crown.....
Taranaki’s teamwork paved the way for their first title in more than a decade, however, led by a dominant canoe crew, brilliance in the beach flags and superb swimming by siblings Dylan and Ayla Dunlop-Barrett.
“We’ve always punched above our weight but this year we just had to punch a little harder,” jubilant Taranaki captain Jaron Mumby said.
“This means a huge amount to us and the whole team pulled us through.”
The Dunlop-Barrett pair picked up the mixed tube rescue title today and Ayla won the women’s surf race on both days, while younger brother Dylan’s final swim in the event-ending relay allowed his province to come through for the win.
Paul Cracroft-Wilson again won the beach flags title, heading off triple world champion Morgan Foster in the final, while Wellington’s Ben Willis won the beach sprint.
Bay of Plenty’s Chelsea Maples was the standout female athlete, completing 20 events in both under-19 and open grades over the weekend, finishing second today in both the beach flags and the beach sprint.
Gisborne teenager Madison Boon won today’s ironwoman race, from Hawke’s Bay’s Nikki Cox and Otago’s Bailey Elliott.