SURF LIFESAVING: Multi-tasker Jess hailed

SHANE HURNDELL
Jess Berridge-Hart's versatility was the key to her winning the Surf Lifesaving Hawke's Bay lifeguard of the year award recently.
Westshore's Berridge-Hart, 21, competes at national level, coaches international athletes and on the administration side does a top job as director of promotions. And while she rates her first win of the award as the highlight of her 13 years in surf lifesaving, the accounting student has promised more success on the competition side.
"This was definitely my best season at open level ... but there's a lot more to come yet," she said.
One who always puts team before individual, Berridge-Hart, ranked helping Hawke's Bay's senior team close the gap on the likes of Auckland, Bay of Plenty and Gisborne in the senior section of the February national Surf League and her gold medals in the taplin relay and board relay at the Gisborne-hosted nationals in March as her major season successes as a competitor.
Berridge-Hart said that over the years she had been blessed with quality coaches including Phil Dooney and Mike Bassett-Foss and she enjoyed sharing her knowledge with athletes from all Hawke's Bay clubs.
Three Waimarama athletes whom she coaches in kayaking, Ryan and Brook Welch and Scott Bicknell, represented New Zealand at the Youth Olympics in Sydney.
"I'll be cutting back on my coaching to focus more on my own training so I can step things up to another level," Berridge-Hart said.
"I want a top-10 finish in the ironwoman at the nationals and I want to help Hawke's Bay's senior team win the Surf League," she added.
One of Berridge-Hart's "students", Waimarama's William Wilkins, won the most improved athlete award. Berridge-Hart described Wilkins as "a good fighter with the right work ethic to take him further".
Wilkins, 16, was equally as complimentary about his coach. When asked the secret to his success during the summer the Hastings Boys High School year 12 pupil replied: "The training from Jess and doing exactly what she told me to do."
Wilkins said this season was the best of his four years in the sport and that making the finals of the under-16 ski and board races and under-19 ski relay at the Gisborne-hosted nationals back in March were the highlights.
A water events specialist, Wilkins who also swims for the Trojans club, finished second in the under-16 board rescue at the Hawke's Bay champs.
Like Berridge-Hart, Wilkins also enjoys kayaking and won three bronze medals at his second national canoe racing championships in Auckland a fortnight before the national surf lifesaving championships.
"Next summer I want to improve on my placings at national level in both sports. I intend sticking with both sports until I get more of an idea of what I should be specialising in," he said.
Should he continue to follow Berridge-Hart's advice and example Wilkins should be able to continue in both codes for a while yet.
The past summer was the Bay's best on the national scene, with the province's under-19 team winning their February national Surf League and Berridge-Hart's clubmate Daniel Moodie retaining his national open and under-19 ironman titles among the numerous highlights.
And this was reflected by the biggest turnout, 150 people, at Surf Lifesaving Hawke's Bay's annual awards function hosted by the Napier Cosmopolitan Club last month. Napier MP Chris Tremain was guest speaker.