She was wearing new colours but Mount Maunganui's Chelsea Maples was up to her old tricks on the opening day of the national surf lifesaving championships yesterday.
The 20-year-old reclaimed the open women's beach sprint title on Ohope Beach, a title she last held in 2007, and cruised into tomorrow's board
race final wearing a Kurrawa cap and togs.
The Australian club is sending a team to the world championships this year and 15 Kiwis had to trade their New Zealand club colours in, although their points still count.
It meant Maples' efforts helped Mount Maunganui to an early lead in the overall standings, capping a great day.
"I did what I had to do today - I qualified for the board final and took out the sprint which was fantastic," Maples said.
"I came here to win that because I've been missing it a little bit. Hard sand isn't usually my forte but it showed I could manage on both surfaces."
Her Mount clubmate and former world champion Holly Moczydlowski showed a heart-warming return to form, pushing Maples all the way and finishing second.
It was a day for the Bay sprinters, with Papamoa's Kodi Harman romping home in the under-16 men's final and Mount's Karina Radley grabbing the women's under-19 title and finishing second in the under-16s.
"I just got too tired - I had six races back to back and the under-16 final was one race too far," Radley admitted.
"But I was pretty pleased to get the under-19 title because it proves I could step up to that level."
Mount also swept the under-19 board rescue finals, with Blake Williamson and Richard Murray taking out the men's race and Katrina Madill and Aimee Berridge the women's.
Papamoa's Hayden Halse and Daniel Kayes won the under-16 board rescue and Omanu's Ashley Cochrane and Dannielle O'Connor held off Papamoa rivals Natalia Peat and Kathryn Stewart in the girls.
Papamoa also picked up valuable points in the under-19 men's canoe to finish the day on 18 points, just three behind Mount Maunganui.
The other feature of the opening day were the performances of New Zealand captain Glenn Anderson, who gave his remarkable collection of national titles a boost, and 34-year-old sprinter Morgan Foster.
Anderson's joy was two-fold. His partner and New Plymouth Old Boys clubmate Ayla Dunlop-Barrett won the first final of the day, the women's run-swim-run, and minutes later Anderson took out the open men's final ahead of Dunlop-Barrett's younger brother Dylan.
The 30-year-old's run-swim-run success was his fifth at national level and his jubilation at standing on the podium with his young club rival was evident.
"It's good to get one over him - Dylan's probably the quickest swimmer in the field by far and the surf race might be a different story if it's going to be flat like this," Anderson said.
"It was awesome to see Ayla win - I get more nervous when she's racing than when I am these days - and I was determined to back up and win the men's race. Then when I turned around, I saw Dylan right behind me, which was the icing on the cake."
Tauranga-raised Mike Janes was third and former Olympic swimmer Dean Kent, now competing for Titahi Bay, was fifth.
While the run-swim-run was Anderson's 29th New Zealand open win, he didn't have to wait long for his 30th, pairing with the younger Dunlop-Barrett late in the day to win the board rescue.
Foster, meanwhile, relished the hard black sand of Ohope, pipping defending champion Ben Ryan and arch-rival Paul Cracroft-Wilson on the line. It was his fourth sprint win since his first in 1998 and he's also chasing his 10th flags title on the beach tomorrow.
Day 1 results -
Men
Open: Run-swim-run: Glenn Anderson (New Plymouth Old Boys) 1, Dylan Dunlop-Barrett (New Plymouth Old Boys) 2, Michael Janes (Midway/Kurrawa) 3. Board rescue: NPOB A (Dylan Dunlop-Barrett/Glenn Anderson) 1, Midway A (Damian Munro/Jack Gavin) 2, Red Beach 1 (Sam Cosgrove/Chris Moors) 3. Beach sprint: Morgan Foster (South Brighton/Kurrawa) 1, Ben Ryan (South Brighton) 2, Paul Cracroft-Wilson (Fitzroy/Kurrawa) 3. Long course
canoe: Taylors Mistake (James Feathery/Peter Rattray/Fraser Bickley/James Rattray) 1, Waimairi (Mark Cresswell/Steve Glue/Carl Righton/Greg Shea) 2, Mairangi Bay (Michael Lee/Danny Morrison/Russell Scoones/Travis Mitchell) 3.
Under-19: Board rescue: Mount Maunganui A (Blake Williamson/Richard Murray) 1, Red Beach 1 (Alistair Maney/Dylan French) 2, Lyall Bay A (Ryan Cox/Tyler Maxwell) 3. Beach sprint: Joe Kemp (St Clair) 1, Toby Harris (Wainui) 2, Jordan Hills (Papamoa) 3. Long course canoe: South Brighton (Michael Martlew/Scott Martlew/Ryan Quickenden/Mark Drabble) 1, Papamoa A (Martin Bartle/Oliver Beaumont/Nathan Harris/ Michael Hinaki) 2, Papamoa
B (Mitchel Brady/Nathan Smith/Matthew Strange/Shaun Peake) 3.
Under-16: Board rescue: Papamoa (Hayden Halse/Daniel Kayes) 1, Waikanae (Myles Nikora/Joel White) Mt Maunganui (Joshua Lee/Cameron Witney) 3. Beach sprint: Kodi Harman (Papamoa) 1, Joshua Pickering-Ross (Red Beach) 2, Evgeniy Drkonos (Ocean Beach Kiwi) 3.
Women
Open: Run-swim-run: Ayla Dunlop-Barrett (New Plymouth Old Boys) 1, Kirsty Wannan (Piha) 2, Nikki Cox (Westshore) 3. Board rescue: Midway (Madison Boon/Lucy Gavin) 1=, Westshore (Nikki Cox/Lydia Diver) 1=, NPOB A (Ayla Dunlop-Barrett/Jamie-Lee Reynolds 3. Beach sprint: Chelsea Maples (Mt Maunganui/Kurrawa) 1, Holly Moczydlowski (Mt Maunganui) 2, Danielle Melody (New Plymouth Old Boys) 3. Board rescue: Long course canoe: Mairangi
Bay A (Emma Louise Porter/ Rachael Dodwell/Katie Pocock/Tracey Wilson) 1, Wainui (Bayleigh Harrison/Courtenay Waikari/Shekinah Edmonds/Rachael Williams) 2, North Beach A (Lisa Finnerty/Trudie Baker/ Jennyfer Fidow/ Marie Bishop) 3.
Under-19: Board rescue: Mount Maunganui A (Aimee Leigh Berridge/Katrina Madill) 1, Sumner A (Lucy Johnson/Claire Everts) 2, Red Beach A (Georgia Lloyd/Caitlin Ryan) 3. Beach sprint: Karina Radley (Mt Maunganui) 1, Briar Merrett (Papamoa) 2, Megan Blair (Paekakariki) 3. Long course canoe: Waimarama (Ashley Blake/Jamie Welch/Sarah Logan/Jordan Pearse) 1, South Brighton (Kate Johnston/Rosie Knight/Ria Pollock/ Sharne Quickenden)
2, Fitzroy (Marissa Clough/Jessica Lampe/Evie Trolove/Madeline Wells) 3.
Under-16: Board rescue: Omanu Beach A (Ashley Cochrane/Dannielle O'Connor) 1, Papamoa A (Natalia Peat/Kathryn Stewart) 2, Lyall Bay A (Emma Robinson/Brooke Watt) 3. Beach sprint: Nicola Coventry (Orewa) 1, Karina Radley (Mt Maunganui) 2, Sarah Karika (Ocean Beach Kiwi) 3.
Overall points: Mt Maunganui 21, Papamoa 18, NPOB 15, South Brighton 13, Midway 8, Red Beach 7, Mairangi Bay 6, Wainui 5, Taylors Mistake 5, Omanu Beach 5, Waimarama 5, Westshore 5.
She was wearing new colours but Mount Maunganui's Chelsea Maples was up to her old tricks on the opening day of the national surf lifesaving championships yesterday.
The 20-year-old reclaimed the open women's beach sprint title on Ohope Beach, a title she last held in 2007, and cruised into tomorrow's board
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