Fast start to Surf Lifesaving Nationals

Six months ago, Aimee Berridge was all washed up. Retired, finished and kaput.
The Mount Maunganui surf lifesaver had just missed out on the lucrative Kellogg's ironman series in Australia and couldn't see herself continuing in the sport.
That's why yesterday's run-swim-run title, her first at senior level, at the New Zealand surf lifesaving championships at the Mount tasted so sweet for the Queensland-based 20-year-old.
"I've had a rough season. I missed out on the top-20 for the Kellogg's series by one point and got a bit low and actually quit the sport for two weeks," Berridge said, after helping her Mount club to an early lead in the standings.
"Six weeks ago, a couple of my friends told me to have another crack so I put my head down in the pool and starting training really hard for this. It paid off today."
It wasn't all plain sailing though, she needed some decent motivation first, before heading off defending champion Ayla Dunlop-Barrett in the first final of the day.
"I had a shocking board race this morning and had a lot of anger in me which was good motivation to do well. I was watching the race before and the waves were peaking to the left so I headed that way, a wave came and I rode it into the beach."
It was a decent first day for local clubs, amid perfect 1.5m swells and warm sunshine.
Mount ended it on 31 points, six ahead of New Plymouth Old Boys with Papamoa another point back.
Papamoa's under-16 dominance was perfectly illustrated in the tube rescue final where they took the first three placings, though Jackson Edwards and Danny Kayes claimed the gold.
That pair also finished second in the board rescue, clubmate Simon Malu won the under-16 beach flags and Natalie Peat and Kathryn Stewart won the under-16 women's board rescue.
To top it off, 16-year-old sprinter Kodi Harman cleaned up in a dramatic under-19 beach flags final, beating Mount's Jamie Banhidi, just a week after setting a new Bay of Plenty secondary schools 200m athletes record.
"I just kept my mind clear and my head straight and got there in the end," a jubilant Harman said. "I've really got to hand it to (fellow schoolboy sprint star) Joseph Millar though. I've been training hard with him throughout the winter and I couldn't have done it without him."
Mount's under-19s were also dominant, with Richard Murray and Blake Williamson winning the board rescue, Williamson and Cameron Witney second in the tube rescue and Cara Ryan and Brooklyn Reardon-Nikara winning the women's board rescue.
Johanna O'Connor and Arna Wright also grabbed a popular win in the open women's board rescue.
New Zealand captain Glenn Anderson dominated the open men's ranks, picking up two more titles to add to his collection.
The 31-year-old New Plymouth Old Boys competitor grabbed his sixth run-swim-run title, outsprinting Midway's Mike Janes in the final 40m.
"I wasn't sure what races I was going to do this weekend but I got through my board heat and won my board semi and got a lot of confidence from that," Anderson said. "I thought my season would only involve Surf League this year but it's nice weekend in Mount Maunganui and I'm happy to be out there and still competitive."
Anderson also added the open tube rescue title with clubmate Isaac Owen, while Ayla Dunlop-Barrett and Ellish Hurley completed a good day for the Taranaki club by winning the women's tube rescue.
There was heartbreak for nine-time beach flags champion Morgan Foster, who again fell at the last hurdle in his pursuit of a 10th win.
Instead, it was long-time rival Paul Cracroft-Wilson who grabbed his fourth win in the past five years, underscoring his status as the world champion.
"The boys have really stepped it up this year and that was probably one of the hardest finals I've ever been involved in, especially in New Zealand but that's the one I've wanted all year," Cracroft-Wilson said.
The women's flags crown again went to South Brighton's Chanel Hickman but the win was made sweeter when she stunned visiting Australian world champion Melissa Howard in the final.
"To know that I'm up there is a massive confidence boost for Aussies and it's an incredible feeling knowing that's the league I'm in now," Hickman said.