Aussies complete clean surf sweep

The Australian surf lifesaving team completed a clean sweep of the DHL International Surf Challenge in Mount Maunganui yesterday, although New Zealand again took the fight to their trans-Tasman rivals.

Australia beat New Zealand by 109 points to 98 in the third and final test, with Japan (57), Great Britain/France (40) and Canada (35) bringing up the rear.

Although the home side grabbed wins in the mixed board relay – thanks to a thrilling sprint finish from Andrew Newton – and the mixed ski relay, Australia dominated the water arena.

New Zealand’s only other wins came on the sand, courtesy of Chanel Hickman in the women’s flags and both male and female beach relays.

Spurred on by the close nature of Wednesday’s second test, Australia unleashed their stars today, with Shannon Eckstein and Liz Pluimers comfortably taking out the blue-ribbon ironman and ironwoman races.

Ski paddler Naomi Flood was equally dominant in her specialist event, while the only rivals to the Australian senior side in the taplin relays, board races and tube rescues were their own under-21 side.

“We’ve had a target on our back the whole week and we’ve done really well considering we’ve had to deal with that,” Eckstein said. “It’s been tough racing and it’s off the back of a big series of racing back home so we are tired but we haven’t given an inch, which is satisfying.”

New Zealand could still savour a great win in the trans-Tasman surf boat series, courtesy of the champion Titahi Bay crew, who edged Australia’s Whale Bay crew 6-3 over the nine-race series.

Titahi Bay secured the series win in the first race of the day, leaving sweep Paul McVicar jubilant.

“This win is pretty special - every Australian crew that you race is very hard to beat but I’ve got a special bunch of guys and a great club behind me,” McVicar said.

“We lost the first race on Wednesday but the first race here today was the turning point which gave us the series."

Hickman was also unbeaten in the beach flags throughout the week, while there were some encouraging displays from the New Zealand development team, notably 17-year-old Gisborne ironman Cory Taylor and Mount Maunganui board paddler Katrina Madill.

New Zealand coach Scott Bartlett was happy with the way his team pulled together but said there was still much to work on to be able to match the Australians consistently.

“We had some good team relays and our beachies did a great job,” Bartlett said.  “Each test, we got better and better and our skills improved throughout the week but that’s the area we still need to work on, not just at the elite level, but right through the country, to make sure we get better and faster at the starts and to make sure we have that back-end speed as well.”

The New Zealand contingent and a team of international allstars will stay on in Mount Maunganui for this weekend’s Lion Foundation Surf League, also featuring seven provincial teams and the New South Wales under-21 side.