Surf lifesaving - Gold seals rise to premiers

It's been a long time coming but Papamoa will finally have a premier IRB crew next season.
The club grabbed a spot at the national championships in Whangamata at the weekend, when Troy Walsh and Mitch Brady took gold in the senior assembly race, heading home Otaki and St Kilda.
"Our aim was to come home with two golds but we're still pretty happy and to qualify for prems is really pretty sweet," Walsh said. "We're stoked with that - it's going to be wicked to race at that level."
Papamoa also qualified two crews for the open teams final, while Nicolas Oldham and Thomas Berthelsen grabbed bronze in the tube rescue.
There was more local success in the under-21 division, where Mount Maunganui twins Chad and Kirby Wheeler took out the feature single rescue race, dominating from start to finish.
"That made up for the assembly where we got disqualified - we were pretty pumped up for this final and to win it tops it all off," Kirby Wheeler said. "We were hoping to keep that medal from last year, so it was a bit gutting, but the single rescue is the big one and to get it is pretty mean."
Mount also picked up medals in the senior tube rescue, where James Roy and Jason Watts earned silver, as did Mare Haitsma and Lauren Assink in the women's single rescue.
Veterans Quentin Cribb and Brent Warner - Mount's last premier crew - turned back the clock to take out the masters' single rescue title as well.
But no one on the beach could catch East End, as the Taranaki club annihilated their competition at the season-ending surf lifesaving event, taking out the overall club title by accumulating more than three times the number of points as their closest rivals.
East End finished with 90 points, with Taranaki neighbours Fitzroy second on 28 and Waimarana and St Kilda tied on 26.
Mount were fifth-equal on 22 points, with Papamoa seven back on 15.
World champions Andrew Cronin and James Morwood led the charge for East End, winning all four premier races and picking up a silver in the open teams race. Significantly, it was the club's second team - helmed by Mitchell Gregg and Scott Nelson - who were the only crew capable of heading Cronin's team.
"We missed out on the clean sweep, but to win all four premier races was pretty special," Cronin said.
"We've trained a lot and the younger guys especially have put a lot of work in. We've got a lot of history in the club and older guys who have led the way in fundraising and making sure we've got craft to race."
East End won eight golds in total, four silvers and five bronze medals.
Fitzroy took out the women's division, with Emma Crofsky and Katie Watts picking up a record sixth consecutive title. It's also likely to be their last, with Crofsky revealing plans to retire.
"At this stage, I don't think I'll be back - I need a break and six years is a long time," Crofsky said.