Bays and club championship honours up for grabs at Gisborne surf lifesaving carnival

Close to 100 surf lifesaving athletes from Gisborne, Hawke's Bay and Bay of Plenty will be in action from Friday afternoon at the Champion of the Bays carnival at Midway. Photo / Jamie Troughton – Dscribe Media Services

Senior lifeguards from Gisborne clubs will be joined by others from Hawke’s Bay and Bay of Plenty in the Champion of the Bays carnival this weekend.

It will double as the Gisborne championships for the Ralph Morse Shield for overall top local club.

Dawson Building Midway won the Gisborne championships last year with a score of 211 points, followed by Kaiaponi Farms Waikanae 130 with Riversun Wainui third.

The coveted Ralph Morse Shield for top overall Gisborne club goes on the line this weekend in the Champion of the Bays surf lifesaving competition at Midway Beach. Photo / Gisborne Herald

This year’s event has attracted around 90 entries from Midway, Waikanae, Wainui and several visiting clubs.

Competition starts at 2pm Friday with beach events and the heats of the ironman.

The main carnival day is Saturday.

“We’re looking forward to a good weekend with a senior crew,” Midway head coach Jack Gavin said.

“Swell conditions look like being really fun and the weather should be hot.

“Midway will have 19 athletes competing this weekend across all age groups and we look forward to seeing our Under-15 athletes racing at home.

“Tyson Ingoe has been training really well and he and Sam Matthews will be looking to feature in the Under-17 age group,” Gavin said.

“Lilla Hain, Sophie Warren and young German exchange student Ida Berg have been training really hard on the sprint track and I look forward to seeing them in action.

“Tyron Evans has been very consistent over the season and should be dominant in the open men’s age group.”

Gavin said he was looking forward to seeing his crew race hard while also having fun on their home beach.

“Due to our strong numbers and good culture, we should retain the Shield.”

Waikanae head coach Arna Majstrovic said her team were excited at the opportunity to race.

“Especially since the Eastern Regional Championships at Mount Maunganui had to be cancelled.

“It’s important that athletes are able to test themselves to see how they are tracking before the nationals in Ōhope next month.

“We have a small group, but they are all keen and enthusiastic to push themselves against other clubs.

“Sunday will be an exciting new format with mixed team races that will be challenging but fun.”

Wainui head coach Dion Williams is “super-excited” at the prospect of seeing their seniors in competitive action.

“They have all been training hard, leading our training groups and setting a very high standard for our junior team to look up to.

“The Fukushima-Hall brothers - Rori and Mako - are very strong ... fantastic all-rounders, who are good at everything. They will hope to be in the medals, especially in beach events, ironman and board races.

“In the girls [races], Klara Pauwells in the ski and beach events is coming along strong; Zyanja Rudge is very strong in the swims; Betsy Findlay is a little rocket on the sand and a great board paddler.

“We are super-excited to get some racing in before the national champs.”