Olympic carrot for top surfers

MAN TO BEAT: Raglan’s Billy Stairmand with the spoils of open men’s victory at the 2017 national surfing championships. Stairmand is back for the 2018 champs in Gisborne next week when he will be vying for a seventh open crown and record-equalling fifth on the trot. CPL picture

GISBORNE — the East Coast’s surfing mecca — is a week away from hosting the New Zealand Surfing Championships, from January 7 to 13.

The championships bring together surfers across all disciplines and age groups, but now more than ever, the event has a focus on high performance as the country’s elite surfers eye qualification for Tokyo in 2020, when surfing makes its Olympic debut.

The national championships constitute the first leg of the 2018 New Zealand Surf Series. This, in turn, provides a vital pathway toward the ISA World Surfing Games, a key Olympic qualification event.

Surfing New Zealand recently brought together the country’s top surfers and coaches at an Olympic workshop aimed at having Kiwi surfers in the first Olympic event.

The International Surfing Association (ISA) has submitted the qualification process to the International Olympic Committee for approval. This is scheduled for February. Up to four New Zealand athletes could be represented at the Games.

One of the steps to qualification will be sending a strong team to the ISA World Surfing Games in Japan in September. For the first time, the team will include four women. An outstanding team result will ensure New Zealand goes into the first qualification event in 2019 with a good ranking.

Qualification will also be an option for the top surfers on the WSL World Tour, of which Paige Hareb becomes a part in 2018.

Three years of hard graft on the Qualifying Series has seen Hareb rejoin the elite ranks where she competed from 2009 to 2014. Her qualification means she is unable to compete at the national championships.

Another absent surfer will be Kehu Butler who has crossed the Tasman this week as he builds up to the World Surf League (WSL) World Junior Championship from January 4 at Kiama, New South Wales. Butler is the only Kiwi eligible to compete at the event in 2018.

The junior age group divisions will take on additional meaning at the national champs with the New Zealand Grom Series reverting back to under-14, 16, 18 and 20 age groups from 2018.

A good result at the nationals can set up a surfer for the rest of the year.

At the opposite end of the age spectrum, the possibility of good waves along the Gisborne coastline is set to attract a raft of older surfers in the senior age group divisions.

For the first time, the senior divisions will include age groups for all female surfers, a directive led by the host Gisborne Boardriders Club with its strong history of female surfers and previous champions in the region.

A good number of former New Zealand representatives and past champions are expected to join in on the fun for the week.

Raglan’s Point Boardriders go in as defending club champions.

Also up for grabs will be the overall performance of the event and President’s Scholarship, which were both won by Elliot Brown earlier this year.

In the 54-year history of the event, the national champs has grown to encompass 29 divisions across all disciplines and age groups.

Close to 300 entries are expected.

It will be the 14th time Gisborne has hosted the champs — the most of any location in the country.

Raglan’s Billy Stairmand is vying for a record-equalling fifth consecutive open men’s title and seventh in all while Ella Williams is going for a third.

The last Gisborne surfer to win an open crown was Jay Quinn in 2013.