As an 11th-hour selection, Holly Moczydlowski comes with a fairly decent pedigree.
The former world beach sprint champion has been drafted into the Bay of Plenty team for next month's Lion Foundation Surf League after missing the title-winning side last year.
Coach Paul Kayes enlisted the Mount Maunganui club member just hours before the squads were finalised, after ski paddler Lisa Carrington elected to concentrate on a flat-water kayaking grand prix in Sydney the week after.
"We understand Lisa's decision and we're completely supportive of it," Kayes said.
"Getting Holly is a bit of a bonus, however, and she jumped at the chance when we asked her. She'll bring a ton of experience and we're delighted to have her on board."
Moczydlowski will compete as an IRB patient and will also run in the strong Bay beach relay team in a vastly different side from that which won last year.
Only five of the 12 from 2008 remain, with Papamoa's Brad and Kurt Wilson joined by New Zealand squad members Andrew Newton, Johanna O'Connor and Chelsea Maples. Seemingly ageless 40-year-old veteran Quentin Cribb, also makes the Bay lineup. Gone from last year are the likes of Glenn Anderson, Nathan Henderson, Rebecca Lockwood and Mike Williams, while Tauranga policeman Jason Carswell makes a comeback in the IRB with Waihi Beach sprinter Matt Strange as his crew.
Three under-19 athletes _ Maples, paddler Sam Newlands and promising Mount teenager Katrina Madill _ will compete in both the open and age-group competitions, with Newlands and Madill making their debut at senior level.
The fast-paced, two-day event is now in its 15th year, and will feature 17 events a day, from February 7-8 on Mount Maunganui's Main Beach.
The event is back to full-strength this year, with Otago rounding off the eight provinces after missing last year.
Twenty of the 96 competing surf lifesavers from eight New Zealand provinces have based themselves in Australia during the pre-season to take advantage of the white-hot competition on offer there.
With athletes like three-time national ironman champion Daniel Moodie (Hawke's Bay), sprinters Paul Cracroft-Wilson (Taranaki) and Ben Willis (Wellington) all returning, the scene is set for a dramatic showdown.
And Bay of Plenty's loss may be Taranaki's gain, with New Zealand captain Anderson bidding for an extraordinary treble, having won the last two titles with Gisborne (2007) and Bay of Plenty (2008).
Now the coach of the strong New Plymouth Old Boys club, he and rising Australian-based talent Daniel Nelson will be strong contenders in the men's ironman.
Bay of Plenty team:
Open: Brad Wilson, Blair Dunn, Sam Newlands, Kurt Wilson, Andrew Newton, Quentin Cribb, Matt Strange, Johanna O'Connor, Chelsea Maples, Jason Carswell, Matthew Cowley, Katrina Madill, Holly Moczydlowski.
Under-19: Chelsea Maples, Katrina Madill, Carla Van Bommel, Brooke Shergold, Tim Johns, Jordan Hills, Joe Kayes, Jason Watts, Sam Newlands, Jamie Banhidi.
