Conditions testing for athletes at Oceans 18

A109 Light Utility Helicopter flight with mayor Gisborne City from the air in November 2023.

SURF LIFESAVING

Unusually testing conditions had participants at the Oceans 18 surf lifesaving competition in Orewa on hold with concerns regarding water quality and high winds creating potential problems for a start of the event on Day 2.

Eventually, a decision to get under way with the beach flags allowed for a clear result on water quality and for the king tide to pull out and create some beach space.

Oscar Smith, of Waikanae, put the first medal on the board for the day in the under-13 boys’ beach flags, claiming the silver.

With a green light on water quality, Chloe Kapene, of Waikanae, wasted no time in becoming the golden girl and dominating the u11 girls’ age group with gold in the surf race, following on from her two gold medals on Day 1 in run-swim-run and the board race.

Midway juniors also had a successful day, Sophie Petro racing strongly to come in second in the u12 girls’ surf race. Midway u12 boys produced a super team effort to come in first in the board relay, and the Midway mixed u12 team placed third overall in their Grand Cameron.

Wainui’s Jack Keepa pulled out some awesome swimming in the boys’ u14 surf race to progress through the early rounds and finish up in the medals with a third-place finish.

Once again, the Gisborne juniors featured not only on the podium but also with a strong presence in finals across the board.

Oceans Day 3 will feature the multi-discipline diamond event, beach sprints and relays.

The top five teams on points at the end of Day 2 were Mt Maunganui 34, Lyall Bay 34, Whakatane 25, Omanu 19 and Waikanae 14.