State Beach Series: Sun shines on latest round

Olympic hopeful Steven Ferguson put on another winning performance. Photo / Georgia Schofield

Summer finally arrived for Race 11 of the State Beach Series on Tuesday night. The sun beamed down on Takapuna Beach drawing a big crowd of competitors and supporters.

A high tide and soft sand made it difficult for the runners but the sparkling Waitamata with a gentle 12-knot easterly, provided perfect conditions for the ocean competitors.

After finishing fourth last week, NZ Stand Up Paddler Jeremy Stephenson excelled in the conditions, winning the 3km paddle in 18m 27s. Stephenson said after the race "good starts are the key, it can get a bit congested but I felt fitter this week than last week". Troy McAsey finished second ahead of Troy Huston back in third.

World No.2 and NZ paddler Annabel Anderson backed up her performance from last week blitzing the field in 19m10s. Stacey Smith crossed the line in second place, 34s ahead of Susannah Pyatt in third.

In the 5km beach run, Tara La Grange mastered the conditions winning easily despite the soft sand while Nick Sutherland led the men's field home.

Olympic hopeful Steven Ferguson put on another winning performance in the 5km Surf Ski Paddle crossing the line in 26m11s. Mike Walker finished second with Oskar Stielau back in third.

Another Olympic hopeful Steven Kent impressed spectators with a strong win in the 1km ocean swim. He stretched the gap on the homeward leg breaking away from the pack to finish the race in 11m54s, 9 seconds ahead of Jackson Cropp who continues to push Kent every week.

In the Women's ocean swim Kirsty Wannan finished in first place but had to work hard to close out Anna Jackson who trailed closely behind in second while Brenda Russell finished third.

RESULTS:

Ocean Swim 1000/1500m - Male
1 KENT, Steven
2 CROPP, Jackson
3 NEWCOMBE, Sean

Ocean Swim 1000/1500m - Female
1 WANNAN, Kirsty
2 JACKSON, Anna
3 RUSSELL, Brenda

Beach Run 5km - Male
1 SUTHERLAND, Nick
2 MASON, Finn
3 BOWYER, Shaun

Beach Run 5km - Female
1 LA GRANGE, Tara
2 EICHMANN, Jesse
3 RYAN, Lesley

Surf Ski Paddle 5km - Male
1 FERGUSON, Steven
2 WALKER, Mike
3 STIELAU, Oskar

Surf Ski Paddle 5km - Female
1 SIMPSON, Dene
2 DODWELL, Rachael

Stand-Up Paddle 3km - Male
1 STEPHENSON, Jeremy
2 MCASEY, Troy
3 HUSTON, Troy

Stand-Up Paddle 3km - Female
1 ANDERSON, Annabel
2 SMITH, Stacey
3 PYATT, Susannah

Board Paddle 3km - Male
1 DONNELL-BROWN, Nico

Board Paddle 3km - Female
1 SPICE, Korrin
2 POLO, Jessica

Junior Beach Run 2.5km - Male
1 HADDY, Josh
2 COYNE, Jackson
3 SAXBY, Toby

Junior Beach Run 2.5km - Female
1 HARDEN, Brieanna
2 BRADDING, Conor
3 BURKITT, Sarah

Junior Swim 300m - Male
1 ELLIOT, Aidan
2 MCPHEAT, Adam
3 GRIMWOOD, Will

Junior Swim 300m - Female
1 CROPP, Jacey
2 BROOKE, Elle
3 HARROWER, Lauren

Novice Paddle 3km - Male
1 STEVENS, Andrew
2 BROWN, Keith

Novice Swim 300m - Male
1 HARDEN, Joshua
2 HANNAH, Grant

Novice Swim 300m - Female
1 REA, Harriet
2 CROPP, Trish
3 DALTON, Mackenzie

- HERALD ONLINE