Water-skier Toni Atkinson has done what no other Northlander has ever achieved. She's won gold at the Asian-Australasian Water-skiing championships in Chuncheon City, South Korea. The 17-year-old was part of a five-strong New Zealand team that won the teams' competition for the first time. Traditional champions Australia were further wounded when theywere knocked into third place by the host nation. Formerly from Dargaville, the Atkinson family now live in Albany but still compete for the Kai Iwi Lakes club and Northland in national competition. Atkinson finished second in the women's slalom at the championships to pick up a second medal - another first for a Northland skier. "That's the first individual medal that a Northlander has ever won at a senior international competition, which is the equivalent to the world championships. "So it's some achievement for Northland water-skiing," a thrilled Kai Iwi club president Glen Williams said. Only three Northlanders had represented New Zealand at senior level before. Atkinson finished runner-up to the world champion, Australian Emma Sheers, in the slalom. That should give her a good target to aim for in future international competition.
