Brilliant Kiwi charge comes up just short

 

A massive last-day effort wasn’t enough for the New Zealand surf lifesaving team to snatch the overall title at the world championships in Egypt today.

The team collected five gold medals, three silvers and two bronzes in a withering finish and ended just 24 points adrift of Australia’s 800-point winning tally.

As a heavy 1m swell pounded Alexandria’s Mamoura Beach, the Antipodean nations again fought out a two-team duel to leave third-placed Germany more than 200 points adrift but New Zealand’s brave challenge wasn’t enough.

“I’ve been to five world championships and that was by the far the best effort we’ve made,” New Zealand co-captain Glenn Anderson said.  “We’re a bit gutted to come so close but the way we stood up and took it to Australia on the last day was fantastic.  I was a pretty proud Kiwi today and it was a great feeling.”

The nine gold medals were the most New Zealand has captured since they won the world title on home sand in 1998. Australia have won every world championship since.

The Kiwi campaign got off to the perfect start when New Plymouth sprinter Paul Cracroft-Wilson held off Japan’s Masato Ueki and South African Ryle De Morny to win the beach flags title.

It maintained New Zealand’s proud record in that discipline, following on from 2008 winner Ben Willis and three-time champion Morgan Foster.

Mount Maunganui’s Chelsea Maples, who was controversially disqualified in the women’s flags, made amends by winning the beach sprint, heading off Australian rival Laura Shorter and South African Mandi Maritz.

Taranaki’s Ayla Dunlop-Barrett then held off Australian ironwoman star Kristyl  Smith to win the surf race and Hawke’s Bay’s Dan Moodie out-duelled a star-studded field to win the men’s board race.

Moodie’s final-day efforts were particularly impressive, just beaten into second by Australian Shannon Eckstein in the glamour ironman race, but helping New Zealand end the championships on a high in the final team relay.

Moodie, Andrew McMillan, Anderson and Kevin Morrison combined to win the fifth gold of the day in the men’s taplin relay, heading off Australia’s Eckstein, Thomas Nolan, Chris Allum and Downie Langthorne.

They brilliantly bent the rules by splitting the swim leg in two, with McMillan tagging Anderson halfway through and the Kiwi captain powering home, completing the last run leg as well, to win by 50m.

Moodie, Anderson, Morrison and Cracroft-Wilson also won silver in the beach relay, behind surprising winners Egypt, on their home beach..

The New Zealand women’s taplin team also finished second, while Andrew McMillan and Nikki Cox grabbed bronze medals in the men’s surf race and ironwoman races respectively.

Cox couldn’t defend her world board race title she won two years ago, finishing fourth, with Maples a spot behind her in fifth.

The pair combined with Dunlop-Barrett and Julia Toomey for fourth in the women’s beach relay, Dunlop-Barrett and Maples were fourth in the women’s board rescue and Anderson and Morrison were fourth in the men’s board rescue.