The Japanese tsunami scare cancelled all water events at the national surf lifesaving championships yesterday, although organisers managed to squeeze in several beach-based events.
And those events carried plenty of drama with them, with Papamoa schoolboy Kodi Harman stunning his senior rivals by winning the open men's beach sprint.
The Mount College
16-year-old beat home some of the stars of the sport, including three-time winner Paul Cracroft-Wilson (Fitzroy) and defending champion Morgan Foster, to become the youngest ever winner of the event.
A jubilant Harman couldn't back up his efforts, fading to fourth in the under-19 final minutes later, but he couldn't contain his delight.
"I wouldn't trade this for anything - I didn't really target any particular race but it just happened the open final fell first on the programme," Harman said. "I'm so stoked, even though I was only operated at about 80 percent in the under-19 final because I was so tired."
Australian Melissa Howard won the women's beach sprint crown, getting a measure of revenge on South Brighton's Chanel Hickman, who beat the current world champion in her specialist flags event yesterday.
The great streak of Malcolm MacDonald and his South Brighton's men's beach relay team came to an end, however, with Mairangi Bay's anchor runner Kevin Morrison just holding off a flying Morgan Foster.
MacDonald and Foster had won the last ten beach relay titles, while MacDonald's run stretched back even further, as he'd been with the Brighton team that won in 1999.
"We knew it was going to be a hard year to defend it and it had to come to an end one day but I'm just glad we pushed them all the way and didn't give it up easily," MacDonald said.
Mount Maunganui's women's team kept their consecutive record going, however, with Holly Moczydlowski, Chelsea Maples, Arna Wright and Tamsyn McGarva earning the club's nine title in as many years.
Former world champion Moczydlowski has been involved in all of those teams.
"We've been the team to beat for the last eight years but every year we turn up pretending we've never won it. We always have something to prove and it keeps us sharp," she said.
The day ended with a revival of the traditional march-past, unseen at a national championship since 1998, to help celebrate surf lifesaving's centenary.
Event organiser have now scheduled an early start at Mount Maunganui's Main Beach in tomorrow's final day, in an effort to squeeze all remaining events in.
See www.bayofplentytimes.co.nz again on Monday for a Surf Lifesaving Nationals photo gallery.
