Surf lifesaving: Peat leads way

Kurt Wilson mentored his Papamoa athletes to more national success. Photo / File

Papamoa Surf Life Saving Club continues to dominate the national competition scene after an outstanding performance at the New Zealand pool championships held in Hamilton over the weekend.

After winning 23 titles at the Australian pool champs in mid-August, Papamoa finished on 924.5 points at the nationals, well clear of second-placed Mount Maunganui (692) with Auckland's Mairangi Bay third on 458.5.

The pool champs are a key part of the surf lifesaving calendar, training lifeguards up and simulating rescue situations for the patrol season that starts in a fortnight.

It is the perfect combination between a sporting competition and real life training for athletes who spend their summers saving lives on New Zealand beaches. The races involve carrying a 55kg manikin on their back or towing it inside a rescue tube.

The key to Papamoa's performance was their depth, highlighted in the under-19 men's division. Ben Johnston, Michael Bryant and Jake Hales took out three of the top four placings in both the 50m manikin carry and the 100m rescue medley, with New South Wales development team member Jed Boxall grabbing two thirds to break up the dominance.

But once again it was 19-year-old Natalie Peat who took the individual honours as she finished with a haul of 8 gold medals and 2 silvers.

"I won four individual golds in my age group and four in relay events, and the silvers were individual events as well," Peat said. "I was most happy with the 100m carry I won gold in my age group. It is my favourite race and I was just outside of my PB which is the national open record. I was pretty stoked to be racing pretty close to my best time.

"I also got disqualified on a technicality after winning another of my favourite races the open 200 metres lifesaver. It was very exciting because I had never won an individual open race before so to get DQ'd was very disappointing but, obviously, it is a mistake I won't make again."

Peat was part of the 64-strong Papamoa team that dominated the event which is testimony to the culture of excellence established at the club since full time professional coach Kurt Wilson started eight years ago. "From a coaching perspective at the start of the season we won the Eastern Region Pool Championships by 800 points and it was obviously a big goal to win nationals," Wilson said.

"The times and effort from the athletes I coach were pretty amazing. The strength and depth shown in the past couple of weeks has been fantastic, with finishing 1, 2, 3, 4 in the 50 manikin carry and 1, 2, 3 in the 100 rescue medley race really highlight how many talented athletes we have got."

Wilson says the programmes he set up eight years are paying off. "As well as being head coach of the surf club, I run a professional swimming programme that has 200 swimmers that go from junior development squad to top elite squad and 99 per cent of those swimmers are from Papamoa Surf Club.

"I get to focus a lot of time and energy into their coaching programmes. It has really started to pay off."