Cyclone looms for Kiwi surf lifesaving competitors

A record number of New Zealand competitors will compete in this week's Australian surf lifesaving championships on the Gold Coast, with more than 90 Kiwis expected to race on a cyclone-affected Kurrawa Beach.

The New Zealand contingent includes Australian-based star Daniel Moodie - who won his fifth consecutive ironman title at the national championships in Whakatane at the weekend - and newly-crowned board race champion Mike Janes.

Ironwoman Maddie Boon, ski race winner Teneale Hatton and sprinters Paul Cracroft-Wilson, Chelsea Maples and Morgan Foster will all compete, having all won Australian titles - either open or agegroup - in the past.

Orewa's Hatton won three gold medals at the `Aussies' in Perth last year, capturing the under-19 ski title for the second year running and adding the under-19 taplin relay and open ski relay crowns.

Cracroft-Wilson has finished second in the flags to perennial champion Simon Harris for the past two years, although he detroned the diminutive Australian in the 2007 final.

The Kiwi ranks have been boosted by a 40-strong representation from the Mount Maunganui and Whakatane clubs, while champion boat crews from Piha and Titahi Bay will also compete.

Paekakariki, Westshore, Lyall Bay, Mairangi Bay and Gisborne clubs Midway and Wainui will also have athletes attending, including top teenaged talent like Wellington's Ryan Cox and Tyler Maxwell, Hawke's Bay's Megan Beattie and Katie Moodie and Gisborne's Chayde Pineaha, Cory Taylor, Oliver Puddick and Toby Harris.

The Australian carnival is the biggest of its kind in the world, attracting 8100 athletes this year including other international entrants from Japan, France and Wales.

Adding spice to the six-day carnival is the looming spectre of Tropical Cyclone Ului, which has pounded the Solomon Islands in the last day leaving a trail of devastation as winds reached 260kmh.
The weather system is expected to head south-west towards the Queensland coast, throwing big storm surf at competitors on Friday and Saturday.

Former Australian Olympic swimmer Daniel Kowalski is expected back in the surf this week, representing the Lorne club from Victoria, while he'll be joined by a host of big name stars, including fellow Olympian Ky Hurst, who will be chasing his seventh Australian open surf race championship and his fifth Australian Ironman title.

Kurrawa is hosting the chmpionships after three years in Perth, with the Queensland government locking in a 12-year deal as hosts through to 2022, although the carnival may make guest appearances in other states.

Competition gets underway today with the first of two days of the Masters, with senior competition for under 15s to opens beginning on Thursday and culminating in the major finals on Sunday.

NZ-based athletes attending:
Westshore: Chris Swain, Katie Moodie, Megan Beattie, Danica Burn, Hannah Parnell.
Lyall Bay: Ryan Cox, Tyler Maxwell.
Mairangi Bay: Blair Moore, Scott Eagle, Terry Burbidge, Scott Gibson, Mark Gribble.
Midway: Chayde Pineaha, Cory Taylor.
Mount Maunganui: Jamie Banhidi, Justine Brennan, Donna Brodie, Madison Brown, Chelan Garnham, Cara Kellett, Clayton Kellett, Shamay King, Callum Knox, Wiremu Lovett, Dan Matuschka, Tamsyn McGarva, Jessica Miller, Holly Moczydlowski, Richard Murray, Andrew Newton, Ryan Preston, Karina Radley, Andrew Roy, Steve Rush, Cara Ryan, Richard Saunders, David Schumacher, Megan Scott, Brooke Shergold, Sam Shergold, Danelle Snowden, Brad Thomsen, Wayne Urbahn, Blake Williamson, Cameron Witney, Briar Merrett.
Paekakariki: Jono Boyd, Nick Boyd, Matt King, Jordan Te Paa
Piha: Cedric Bourneville, Ludovik Bourneville, Mark Bourneville, Theo Commissaris, Ricky Daniel-Nield, Logan Flutey, Matt Kirke, Craig Knox, Nick McKenzie, Bruce O’Brien, Shamus O’Halloran, Shane O’Halloran, Ben Scott, Jean Paul Smit, Jed Wright.
Titahi Bay: Paul McVicar, Tim Marsden, Ben Ashby, Dean Ellis, Chris Martin, Sam Blyde, Danny McDowell, Martin McDowell.
Wainui: Oliver Puddick, Toby Harris.