Thieves get the jump on champion water skier

An Auckland water skiing champion's return to his hometown has begun badly, with the brazen theft of thousands of dollars worth of his ski gear.

The gear was snatched from outside his home as he dashed inside to get his car keys.

Thomas Gilbert, 22, has just returned from competing in Santiago, Chile, and was dropped off at his father's Meadowbank home at 5.20am yesterday by a friend.

The national champion, who overcame a severe injury from a car accident in the US, lost $8500 worth of equipment in a just a few minutes.

"I went inside for five minutes to see my Dad and get my keys," Mr Gibert says.

When he came back outside, his gear, including three metre-long jump skis and travel bags, was gone.

He's astounded that someone was around and even contemplated the theft that that time of the day.

"It's just the fact that it was 5.20 in the morning on a Wednesday," says Mr Gilbert, who speculates what the thieves could actually do with the equipment. "All the gear's quite specialised."

Mr Gilbert is entering his third year of a bachelor of commerce degree and had paid for the majority of the gear himself.

Anyone who saw anything suspicious on Harapaki Road should contact Mr Gilbert on 817 3144.