NZ surf team fifth after tough World Games opening

The New Zealand surf lifesaving team sits in fifth after a tough opening day at the World Games in Taiwain overnight.

The team's highlights included a bronze medal in the 4x25m obstacles relay, with Glenn Anderson, John Gatfield, Mike Janes and Steven Kent finishing behind the Italian and German teams.

Kent also finished fourth in his 200m obstacles final and was fifth in the 50m manikin carry final, which helped New Zealand’s team tally to 125.5 after the first of two days in the Kaohsiung Municipal Pool complex.

Italy, led by Federico Pinotti and Giovanni Legnani, have taken a big early lead on 221 points, helped in no small part by the controversial new Jaked swimming suits which have been linked to a glut of new world swimming records lately.

The Chinese team, also wearing high-tech suits, were second on 183, ahead of Germany and favourites Australia. In all, five new lifesaving world records were set on the first day leaving New Zealand coach Scott Bartlett awestruck.

“The suits are just amazing – they’re so unbelievably fast and it’s changed the whole nature of this competition,” Bartlett said.

“We’re satisfied with how our young team went tonight – we had a number of personal bests across the competition – but we’ll have to pick our game up tomorrow if we’re to stay in the hunt.”

World swimming body FINA has come under criticism for its failure to regulate the rapid advances in swimsuit technology that led to 108 world records last year and nearly 30 so far this year.

Some suits are suspected of creating "air trapping" effects that artificially enhance speed.

Other New Zealand results from the finals saw Wellington teenager Georgia Hind win her B Final in the 200m obstacles race, while Ayla Dunlop-Barrett was eighth in the A final.

Samantha Lee finished seventh in her 50m manikin carry final, while the men’s 4x 25m manikin carry relay team were fifth.

Tonight’s events include the manikin carry with fins as well as the 100m rescue medley and the medley relays, before competition switches to Sizihwan Bay for the final day’s beach events.

Standings: Italy 221, China 183, Germany 156, Australia 147.5, New Zealand 125.5, France 93, South Africa, Taiwan 65.