NZ surf team ready for World Games
A fresh-faced New Zealand surf lifesaving team has arrived in in Taiwan for the World Games, confident of another podium finish.
The 12-strong team - which includes 16-year-old Wellington swimming star Samantha Lee and three other teenagers - gathered in Auckland on Friday before flying out for Taiwan on Sunday.
They've arrived to stifling 38deg heat, with the lifesaving component of the games beginning on Friday.
Eight members of the team will be making their debut at this level, although New Zealand coach Scott Bartlett is confident his troops will handle the pressure.
"There's an interesting mix and we're blooding a few of these athletes with an eye for the future," Bartlett said. "Their enthusiasm has been outstanding and the amount of work they've put in over the last three months has been very impressive."
New Zealand finished runner-up to Australia at last year's world championships in Germany, though the World Games format is slightly different.
The Games, held every four years for non-Olympic sports, will include a three-day lifesaving component with two days in the pool and the final day at Taiwan's Kaohsiung Beach.
New Zealand will again be led by New Plymouth's Glenn Anderson, a veteran of four previous world championship campaigns, while Steve Kent (Titahi Bay), Nikki Cox (Westshore) and Ayla Dunlop-Barrett (New Plymouth Old Boys) have also competed at that level.
Mindful of the pool emphasis, Bartlett has also included Lee and her Lyall Bay teammate Georgia Hind, 19-year-old Titahi Bay swimmer John Gatfield and national surf race champion Jess Parr in the team.
Lee returned this week from the trans-Tasman agegroup swimming series in Canberra where she swept the 100m butterfly races and went close to dipping under the 1min mark for the first time.
"That's the nature of this competition - it's designed by the Europeans so you've got seven events in pool and five on the beach," Bartlett explained.
"The tricky part of this event is that they count three athletes per event so that's going to test our depth considerably.
"That plays perfectly into the Australian's hands because they've got more versatile athletes but a lot of our athletes are better in the pool and that's where our strength will lie."
Australia's ranks are led by world champion ironman Shannon Eckstein and the world champions are coming off a dominant display at the International Surf Rescue Challenge in Durban, South Africa earlier this year.
2009 World Games team: Glenn Anderson (New Plymouth Old Boys), Daniel Moodie (Westshore), Steven Kent (Titahi Bay), John Gatfield (Titahi Bay), Mike Janes (Midway), Matt Sutton (Midway), Ayla Dunlop-Barrett (New Plymouth Old Boys), Madison Boon (Midway), Nikki Cox (Westshore), Samantha Lee (Lyall Bay), Jess Parr (Muriwai), Georgia Hind (Lyall Bay).
THE WORLD GAMES
(Kaohsiung, Taiwan July 16-26)
The World Games in Kaohsiung marks the eighth held since 1981, when the inaugural was staged in the U.S. city of Santa Clara, California.
More than 3,200 athletes from 90 countries will participate. The 31 competitions comprise artistic and dance sports, ball sports, martial arts, precision sports, strength sports and trend sports.
Some date from ancient Greece and Rome, such as boules, fistball, and tug of war, while others reflect Asian traditions, such as the martial arts and dragon boat racing.
Athletes to watch include top-ranked climber Patxi Usobiaga Lakunza of Spain, Bahamian bodybuilder Paul Wilson, German bowler Achim Grabowski and Ironman champion Shannon Eckstein who will lead the Australian team in lifesaving, a sport demanding speed and skills in the ocean and pool.
The World Games adopts the Olympic motto of "faster, higher, stronger" and occurs quadrennially, a year after the summer Olympic Games. The aim of the International World Games Association is to develop the popularity and traditional values of sports.