Ahipara surf club picks up big trophy

SURF RESCUE

Far North Surf Rescue was presented with the London Trophy at the celebration of surf life saving, the 2012 DHL In it for Life Awards luncheon which took place in Wellington at the James Cook Hotel on Saturday.

The London Trophy is awarded to the club with the most surf lifeguard and instructor awards in one season per capita of members; it was won by FNSR for qualifying nine new lifeguards and two new lifeguard instructors earlier this year.

The London Trophy was first donated to Surf Life Saving New Zealand in 1937 by the head office of the Royal Surf Life Saving Society in London to further the work of saving lives in New Zealand. There to accept the award were Liz Arcus and Simon Smith on behalf of their Ahipara based organisation, with Liz describing the London Trophy as quite impressive.

"It was so massive, I was wondering how we would get it on the plane ... We did in fact have to leave it behind."

Also from Northland and recognised at the awards luncheon was Lindsay Hill (Whangarei Heads) who was awarded the DHL Instructor/ Examiner of the Year for his outstanding contribution to the development of surf lifeguard capability in the 2011/2012 season.

Having been involved since 2004, Hill was also dedicated to the cause for his future-proofing in recruiting and training new instructors. Last season, he began his IRB Instructors Award and helped to train six crew and six drivers for his club and also attended a total of 12 assessments to help qualify some of the 309 new lifeguards in the Northern Region.

The awards weekend - made up of two different ceremonies - celebrated the achievements from the national surf patrol front over the 2011/ 12 season.