Seven Gisborne clubbies in NZ teams for worlds

Olivia Corrin from Midway SLSC will be one of seven surf athletes from Gisborne representing New Zealand at this year's World Championships on the Gold Coast. Photo by Jamie Troughton/Dscribe Media.

Gisborne is heavily represented in New Zealand teams for the Lifesaving World Championships (LWC 2024) later this year.

Five locals are in the Black Fins open squad while two have made the Junior Black Fins under-19 team.

The worlds are being held on Australia’s Gold Coast from August 20 to September 8.

Dawson Building Midway club members Chris Dawson, Cory Taylor and Olivia Corrin will be joined by Kaiaponi Farms Waikanae members Briana Irving and Oska Smith in the Open team.

Smith will make his debut at that level.

Midway’s Sophie Petro and Yahni Brown have been selected in the Junior Black Fins for the first time.

Former Gisborne man Marcus Forbes is the junior team manager.

Gisborne’s Arna Majstrovic is the beach coach for both squads.

LWC 2024 is the world’s biggest international lifesaving sport competition.

The 2024 championships will attract up to 7000 athletes, including Olympic and world champions, from youth to masters,” Surf Life Saving NZ high performance sport manager Tanya Hamilton said.

The New Zealand team was “a good mix of youth and experience”, she said.

“We’ve had a fantastic sport season here in New Zealand, with athletes pulling out some incredible performances. We know we’ll give our competitors a run for their money, especially Australia – our toughest rivals.

“We can’t wait to head across the Tasman to compete.”

The worlds will be split into three areas – pool, beach and ocean.

The pool events are at the Gold Coast Aquatic Centre in Southport.

The beach and ocean events will take place at Kurrawa Beach.

Hamilton said the lifesaving sport community would be keen to put its best foot forward after the International Life Saving Federation (ILS) announcement that it had put in a bid for inclusion in the 2032 Brisbane Olympic Games.

ILS president Graham Ford said the sport was continuing to grow at international level and there had never been a better time to pursue the Olympic pathway.

“Lifesaving sport aligns perfectly with the International Olympic Committee’s vision of ‘building a better world through sport’, with all members of our sport committed to not only top-level competition, but also saving lives through their humanitarian work in volunteer organisations.”