Swell time at Gisborne

Jamie TroughtonNothing was as impressive as Isabella Obermiller's commitment to the cause in a day of drama at the national surf lifesaving championships.
As all around her descended into chaos in 2.5-metre swells at Gisborne's Midway Beach yesterday, the Mount Maunganui novice women's surf boat crew member kept her head ... or rather her bum ... firmly planted.
The crew's first race of the day coincided with some of the biggest sets of the day, and it was on the way home that sweep Andrew Parker and his crew struck trouble. They broached on a big wave and all but Obermiller were thrown out.
The 28-year-old native of North Carolina has never even been in a surf boat until this season _ she grew up in the mountains and preferred soccer fields to ocean pur suits.
But somehow she managed to stay in the boat, ride it into shore
furiously paddling with one oar, before running up the beach to finish the heat in second spot.
``I'm not sure how I stuck there _ I must have had glue on my bum although I've rode a lot of horses growing up and I guess that helped,' Obermiller joked.
``I was in a good position in the boat and I kind of ducked under and came up and everyone else was gone.'
More drama was to follow out in the swells.
Boat skipper Roselle Entwhistle dislocated a finger in the crash and was struck in the kidneys with one of the oars.
Parker had to hold the dazed rower up in the water until safety craft arrived.
``It was a bit scary and we were pretty glad to get out of it as well as we did,' Parker said.
``Izzy actually kept us in the competition and we're still keen to carry on, although we might have to rope someone else in from the club to replace Rosie.'
On a frustrating day for organ isers, just a handful of finals were completed.
Mount pair Johanna O'Connor and Rebecca Lockwood captured the open women's tube rescue fi nal. Lockwood's surf skills were again prevalent, a year after she and Chelsea Maples won the board rescue in big surf at Ohope.
With a deep low-pressure sys tem heading up the east coast of New Zealand, swells and wind steadily built throughout the day until organisers were forced to shift the competition venue 5km down the beach to a more shel tered location.
Hosts Midway duly picked up from where they left off last year as New Zealand's reigning cham pion club.
Led by former Tauranga swim mer Mike Janes and fellow Australian-based athlete Madison Boon, Midway won four of the subsequent finals and placed in four others to set up a commanding first-day lead.
Janes paired with younger brother Daniel to win the tube rescue, then linked with Matt Sutton to win the board rescue, while 18-year-old Boon paired with 16-year-old Lucy Gavin to win the open and under-19 women's board rescue events.
Also picking up from where they left off were Titahi Bay's dominant surf boat crew, who mastered the chaotic surf to win the short course title.
They'll look to emulate their long-course win last year when the finals are raced tomorrow, after beating fierce rivals Piha into second yesterday, with Midway a surprise third.
Midway's fast start put the club on 28 points going into the week end, 11 ahead of Piha with Red Beach, Mount Maunganui and Titahi Bay tied for third with five points.