Surf lifesaving: Mount trio strong all-rounders

Libby Bradley is one of three Mount Maunganui surf lifesavers selected for the Junior Black Fins. Photo / John Roy

Mount Maunganui lifeguards make up one quarter of the Junior Black Fins team to compete at the 2016 Lifesaving World Championships in the Netherlands in September.

Libby Bradley, Kane Sefton and Hamish Miller will compete over four days of competition, with two days of indoor pool events and two days of beach and ocean events. The format is perhaps the most extensive test of a lifeguard's capabilities which made selecting the team so difficult, according to Mount Maunganui club coach John "Spindles" Bryant.

"To make the world teams it's not being the best swimmer or the best board paddler or the best ski paddler that gets you in. It's what you can produce across all the disciplines," he said.

"That is what makes picking these teams so very difficult for national selectors and coaches.

"These three have trained exceptionally hard over several years to make this team, not just for 12 months. Kane, Hamish and Libby have been part of this development squad now for two to three seasons.

"It is not so much the beach part they have had to work really, really hard on but also the pool side of things. When you look at the size of all three of these kids just learning to carry a mannequin properly has taken quite a lot of work.

"The lifesaving worlds is not all about action. It is also about the pool side component as well and all that work they have done on the pool side of things in conjunction with their swimming coaches is what has brought them to this level."

Bryant says Mount Maunganui came very close to having two more athletes selected.

"We had two who were very, very unlucky not to get in as well in Daniel Barron and Lochlainn O'Connor. They were both so close to being picked it was unbelievable."

It is estimated that each of the athletes will need to raise $10,000 to pay for their trip to the Netherlands.

Junior Black Fins:

* Libby Bradley, Hamish Miller, Kane Sefton (Mount Maunganui), Javon McCallum, Zac Reid (Fitzroy), Alaynah Bettany, Lewis Clareburt (Lyall Bay), Grace Kaihau (Orewa), Hannah Williams (Piha), Jamie Gedye (Waikanae), Olivia Corrin (Midway), (Seb Johnson (Sumner).

Coach: Jonelle Quane
Assistant coach: Matt Sutton.