Papamoa ties up junior surf lifesaving title

It took an inspired board paddle from Daniel Edwards and a determined sprint from Jake Cowdrey but Papamoa are back on top of junior surf lifesaving in New Zealand.
Well, sort of. The perennial powerhouses of the Oceans 11 under-14 national championships needed all sorts of heroics to catch Red Beach yesterday, ending the four-day carnival tied with the Auckland club on 61 points.
Papamoa trailed Red Beach by four points heading into the final two events but picked up a second in the under-12 Cameron relay and a fighting third in the under-14 Cameron relay for the vital point to draw level.
"I heard that we were about a point behind half-way through the relay, so I knew what I had to do on that last run," said sprinter Cowdrey, who took the last leg. "I heard the commentator say I was third when I was 10m away from the finish line so it was a pretty good feeling."
Edwards had busted out a big board leg, bringing Papamoa up from sixth.
"One of my goals was to at least get up and pass someone - I managed to pass three so I was pretty stoked," Edwards said. "I knew it was pretty tight between us and Red Beach so we needed a big effort."
It capped a great carnival for Bay of Plenty clubs, who filled four of the first six sports. Mount Maunganui were a fighting third, while Omanu were fifth just a point behind Midway.
Mount were led by 12-year-old dynamo Hamish Miller, who won five golds over the duration of the carnival, capturing the tube rescue, run-swim-run, surf race and diamond race, as well as the mixed beach relay title.
In sharing the title, Papamoa claimed back the overall title they last held in 2009. The Bay of Plenty club did so with one of their smallest teams, but the 43 athletes chipped away at podium spots.
They were boosted on the last day by wins to Mason Bryant in the under-14 boys surf race, a brilliant double by under-11 Aidan Smith in the beach sprint and board race and twin wins to Malia Josephson (under-12 board) and Mitch Cowdrey (under-11 diamond race).
"It was a pretty good way to go out," Papamoa captain Bryant said. "I've done five of the Oceans events and have won four with Papamoa so it was pretty sweet to go end it. We had a simple plan - just go out hard and try and pass the people in front of us."
Red Beach under-11 girl Jade Tuilaepa was another star of the carnival, winning the surf race, board race and diamond race on the last day, adding to her earlier beach flags win and a third in the run-swim-run.
Brighton's Bailey Brandham started a superb run for smaller clubs, with the Dunedin 13-year-old winning the surf race and diamond race double.
He was matched by Hannah Williams (Mangawhai Heads) who picked up identical wins in the 13-year-old girls division.
Conor Bradding (Whangamata) had the most memorable win of the day, vomiting at the start of the under-11 boys surf race but fighting back to win in a dramatic sprint finish from Papamoa's Mitch Cowdrey.
"I wasn't nervous but I felt sick on the sideline and they asked me if I wanted to pull out. This is my best race though and I wasn't going to miss the chance," Bradding said. "I led around the cans and managed to keep in touch and I really gave it everything on the line."
He then backed it up by finishing second in the diamond race.
Red Beach junior chairman Mark Scheib, the 1992 Olympic kayaker, was delighted with how things turned out for his 52-strong contingent.
"It's the first time we've ever claimed top spot and we're more than happy to share the win with Papamoa," Scheib said. "We've slowly built up and we've got lots to look forward to next year."