Surf lifesaving: Harman achieves rare double

Papamoa's Kodi Harman (right) heads to victory in the men's beach sprint at the New Zealand Surf Lifesaving Championships at Ohope Beach, Whakatane. Photo/Jaime Troughton

Kodi Harman's flying feet took him scorching across the black sands of Ohope Beach but it is the track at Glasgow's Hampden Park occupying his immediate future.

A day after winning his first open men's beach flags title at the New Zealand Surf Lifesaving Championships, the Papamoa sprinter became just the sixth man to do the double by winning the beach sprint on Saturday.

He joined a list of beach sprinting legends - Boris Sokratov, Anthony Dorreen, Callum Taylor, Morgan Foster and Paul Cracroft-Wilson - but the 19-year-old immediately turned his focus towards qualifying for this year's Commonwealth Games at the end of the month.

"I'm a little way away in the 100m and a bit closer in the 200m but my big goal is to help qualify a 4x100m team for the Games," Harman said.

"The key is going to be managing some niggling injuries and just continuing to work hard at training."

Harman is in the national 4x100m relay squad, with Joseph Millar (Tauranga), Isaac Tatoa, Matthew Wyatt and James Mortimer likely partners for the Glasgow attempt, which will need a 39.50sec time to qualify.

He has a personal best of 10.42, with 10.17 the A qualifying mark in the individual 100m.

Mount Maunganui won the men's board rescue, with George Haynes and Sam Shergold heading home Midway's Taylor and Scott, with Red Beach's Chris Moors and Matt Thetford, third.

There was also a notable double from the Papamoa board relay team of Scott Cowdrey, Ben Johnston and Danny Hart, who combined to win the under-19 and open men's titles.

Cowdrey and Mason Bryant, meanwhile, ended the six-year winning streak of clubmates Johnston and Hart by winning the under-19 board rescue, an event the latter pair have dominated since the under-12 age group.

Taranaki sprinter Olivia Eaton, who competes for the Mount Maunganui club, won the open women's beach sprint title, just a month after turning 16, having won the under-16 title.

National kayaking representative Marty McDowell defended his double-ski title, this time combining with Todd Grace.

Midway won their 10th open men's surf teams race and their eighth in the last 11 years, from Mount Maunganui and St Clair. Piha's Teneale Hatton, paired with Brita Camplin to win the women's double ski.