KEY POINTS:
Like some sort of modern-day Superman, Michael Coutts has a skin-tight, full-length suit in his wardrobe and a pair of skimpy undies in his top drawer.
Unlike the kryptonite-challenged superhero, however, Coutts' two items of apparel are mutually exclusive. The 'skimpy undies' are Coutts' surf lifesaving attire. The 21-year-old is dusting off his speedos this week for another stint with the Gisborne team in the Lion Foundation Surf League at Mt Maunganui.
But when not tearing up hot white sand in the beach sprint or powering a surf canoe with his teammates, Coutts pulls on the lycra and an alpine helmet before throwing himself down an icy track on a skeleton sled.
Gisborne born-and-raised Coutts is continuing a long line of top surf athletes making a successful stab at other sporting codes. Ian Ferguson, Paul MacDonald, Rebecca Perrott, Sheryl George and Alan Thompson all won open surf titles while also excelling in canoeing, swimming or netball.
A quick glance through the line-ups of the eight-province Surf League next week throws up rugby players, triathletes, sprinters and swimmers.
Coutts takes small satisfaction at being the sole skeleton racer - it's hardly surprising, given there's only about six serious Kiwi competitors - but admits his interest in the winter sport is a recent development.
"I only found out about skeleton racing when I was watching the Winter Olympics at Torino last year," Coutts confessed. "I watched these guys flying down the course on a narrow sled and thought 'that's for me' so I jumped on the net, sent a few emails and got in touch with a guy called Angus Ross, who's now my coach."
As luck would have it, Ross was based in Dunedin where Coutts is studying physical education. By May, Coutts was going through his first testing. With the key ingredient of speed, Coutts soon broke the New Zealand record for the all-important start by half a second, clocking 3.33s.
By November, he was representing New Zealand and having his first blast on a proper skeleton track in Calgary. He finished 25th and 23rd in his two runs.
"It was a huge learning curve - it's quite competitive and technical as well with your equipment. Now it's just about getting track experience as much as I can over there and keep training my push. Hopefully I can start making World Cups and try and make the next Olympics."
Several competitors on Mt Maunganui's Main Beach next week share those Olympic aspirations, such as New Zealand under-23 triathlon representatives Bailey Elliot (Gisborne) and Kate Harvey (Wellington).
The Christchurch Toomey family of swimmers is well represented, with Julia and Dominic both drafted into the Otago team, while New Zealand sevens and Bay of Plenty rugby player Charles Baxter has been named but is likely to miss the Surf League with IRB Series commitments.
However, Auckland captain Danny Morrison will be involved - although he's having to use it as pre-season rugby training, having spent the last two seasons playing for the Thames Valley Swamp Foxes.
"I used to be a surf athlete and a kayak paddler who played a bit of footy but my attention to training in surf lifesaving has definitely wound down a bit now," Morrison said.
"I don't put the effort in as I used to - I probably put as much into my rugby now as the surf lifesaving."
Ironman legend Cory Hutchings has a couple of theories why there's such an abundance of talented athletes cruising our beaches.
"The sport probably gives them a bit of a mental release from their Olympic sports and they probably don't feel the same pressure," said Hutchings, who tried to make the New Zealand kayaking team last year.
He also reckons that the very nature of surf lifesaving breeds an essential ingredient in all top athletes.
"Young kids that come through our Nippers programme are thrown into the ocean at five or six and taught a fair bit about courage at a young age."
Coutts agrees. It takes courage to dive onto a sled millimetres above the ice and hurtle at speeds of up to 130km/h but after tackling some big surf at Gisborne's Waikanae Beach, he's game for anything.
"I guess all my surf lifesaving and athletics training is paying off," Coutts said. "When we were younger, we got into everything on the beach and didn't worry about specialising until you got to under-19 level. It just set a good base for all sports - even this."
2007 SURF LEAGUE
Where: MT Maunganui
When: February 10-11
What: Eight teams competing over two days in 17 disciplines
Defending champions: Auckland
The line-up: Auckland, Bay of Plenty, Gisborne, Hawke's Bay, Taranaki, Wellington, Canterbury, Otago.
