Olivia Corrin
MIDWAY Surf Life Saving Club member Olivia Corrin is in a 10-person New Zealand lifesaving team competing at the World Games in Poland this month.
Corrin is the only Gisborne athlete in the team, who are a mixture of world champions, competitors with international experience and New Zealand representative debutants.
It has been eight years since New Zealand last sent a lifesaving team to the World Games.
The 2017 World Games multi-sport event is taking place in Wroclaw, Poland from Thursday, July 20, to Sunday, July 30. Over 30 sports will be featured.
The lifesaving component is a pool competition only, taking place on July 21 and 22 at the Orbita Sports Complex.
New Zealand will compete against teams from Australia, Belgium, China, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Poland and Spain.
This weekend the team of five male and five female athletes will be in camp in Auckland where they will take part in training sessions, team-building activities and one-on-one meetings with coach Jonelle Quane.
The team will leave Auckland on Monday evening for Poland, by way of San Francisco and Frankfurt, arriving in Poland on Tuesday.
New Zealand team manager Mark Weatherall says one of the biggest challenges will be coping with the tight turnaround of travelling for 48 hours and then getting straight into racing.
The World Games opening ceremony will be on Thursday.
The first day of racing on Friday, July 21, will be the 200-metre obstacles, 4x50m obstacles, 100m manikin carry and 200m super lifesaver. They will be followed on the second day of competition by the 50m manikin carry, 4x25m manikin carry, 100m manikin tow and 4x50m medley relay on the second day of competition.
The events are designed to test the technique, fitness and motivation of the athletes in a real-life rescue situation but in a controlled pool environment.
Australia, Italy, Germany and France are likely to be the toughest opponents.
Weatherall was at the World Games in 2009 as assistant team manager.
“The purpose of this trip will be similar to 2009, which was around creating an opportunity for our developing athletes to experience this unique event.
“With over 4000 athletes taking part, it will be like the Commonwealth or Olympics Games for lifesaving.”
Team captain Steven Kent (Titahi Bay) will be heading into the competition with three world championships under his belt and a résumé that includes top male competitor at the 2013 and 2015 German Cup pool competitions.
Kent says the World Games will be a good opportunity to test where he’s at since competing at the 2016 Lifesaving World Championships.
“Coming off the back of the worlds last year, where we were the best pool team, puts on a little bit of pressure,” he said.
“But because it’s a newer team, there’s also excitement to have that pride behind them. It gives them a chance to prove themselves looking ahead to next year as we refill our ranks and keep improving as a nation of pool lifesavers.”
The vice-captain, Papamoa’s Natalie Peat, was also a member of the 2014 and 2016 world champion Black Fins.
New Zealand team for World Games: Steven Kent (Titahi Bay) captain, Adam Simpson (Mt Maunganui), Andrew Trembath (St Clair), Jacob Hales (Papamoa), Oscar Williams (Piha), Natalie Peat (Papamoa) vice-captain, Carina Doyle (St Clair), Ella Drinnan (Orewa), Madison Kidd (Papamoa), Olivia Corrin (Midway); Jonelle Quane (coach), Mark Weatherall (manager), Daniel Grant (assistant coach), Johnny Clough (technical official).