Taylor, Corrin going for iron gold

Australia-based Midway clubbies Cory Taylor (see following picture in this gallery) and Oliva Corrin (above, second from right) will once again test themselves against the best “iron” athletes in the world this summer in the full-throttle Nutri-Grain series, which starts in Sydney in mid-December. Corrin requalified earlier this month while Taylor was an automatic qualifier from the 2022-2023 series. Pictures supplied

The 2023/24 Nutri-Grain Ironman and Ironwoman series begins at Manly Beach in Sydney in about three weeks and two Gisborne surf athletes will once again be in the fields.

Dawson Building Midway’s Cory Taylor and Olivia Corrin, who also compete for the Northcliffe Club in Queensland, are in the 20-strong men’s and women’s lineups.

Fellow Kiwis Joe Collins and Danielle McKenzie will also be amongst it again. Both requalified automatically after top 10 finishes last season.

Taylor, 30, also automatically qualified after finishing fourth last year.

Corrin was 13th in the 2022-23 series.

She came through requalifying brilliantly earlier this month as the most consistent female competitor in the tricky two-foot swell at Tugan Beach in Queensland.

The 23-year-old topped the points across the weekend series of qualifying races.

Corrin says she cannot wait for the iron series to begin.

“It is so exciting. I love racing out there, racing irons, and the testing conditions made it so much fun.

“I knew it was going to be a hard weekend at Tugan. The goal was to make Sunday and then have a good day.

“I managed to do that so I am very happy.”

Corrin expects it to be an awesome series.

“It is an extra step up racing the best girls in the world and with the next generation coming through as well, it is going to be really exciting. They are pushing us to better ourselves, so it is going to be super-fast racing.”

The final line-ups were announced after the wildcard additions were confirmed.

Former series champion Harriet Brown (Northcliffe) and Sunshine Coast ironwoman Tayla Halliday (Alexandra Headland) were awarded the female wildcards, while Surf Life Saving Australia Athlete of the Year Connor Maggs (Newport) and Auden Parish (Northcliffe) were the men’s additions.

Rounds 1 and 2 of the six-round series are at Manly Beach on December 16-17.

Rounds 3 and 4 are at Maroubra Beach, Sydney, on January 13-14.

Rounds 5 and 6 are at Kurrawa Beach, Gold Coast, on February 3-4.

Gisborne’s Chris Dawson will lead the New Zealand Black Fins team into the International German Cup pool lifesaving championships from later today.
The three-day event in Warendorf, Germany, has attracted lifeguards from across the world.
Dawson, a member of Dawson Building Midway Surf Life Saving Club, will make his debut as captain and said he was excited to be leading the team.
It will be his fifth crack at the German Cup and he rates the New Zealand team’s chances.
“We’ve got a great line-up, a good mix of youth and experience,” he said.
“I’m hoping we can rip into it.”

Black Fins: Chris Dawson (Midway, captain), Madison Kidd (Whangamatā), Zoe Crawford (Mairangi Bay), Molly Shivnan (Omanu), Talitha McEwan (Mt Maunganui), Fergus Eadie (Mairangi Bay), Louis Clark (Taylors Mistake), Sam Brown (Mairangi Bay).