Surf Lifesaving: Mount win by 'doing right things'

Mount Maunganui Lifeguard Service has won the New Zealand Surf Life Saving Championships title for the fourth time in a row. Photo / Vandi Photography

Mount Maunganui confirmed its powerhouse status by taking out the Allan Gardner Memorial Trophy as top club at the New Zealand Surf Life Saving Championships at Ohope at the weekend.

It's the fourth year in a row and the seventh time in nine years the Mount club has finished top of the heap.

"It's what we preach - lifeguards save lives and we train hard and that's what we're all about on the beach and it showed," said head coach John Bryant.

"We've won now in flat (conditions), big surf, choppy surf - every sort of condition. It shows we're doing the right things, but it also says to the public, 'hey, come and swim here, you are getting the best on the beach'."

Bryant picked out several athletes' performances.

"Brooke and Sam Shergold - when I first came here, they were just little kids, under-11s and under-14s. They came out yesterday (Sunday) in the double ski and won it - so it's quite cool seeing those kids develop over the years and for a brother and sister to win that title was pretty special."

Olivia Eaton was another athlete who stood out.

"She was very, very good. She won the open women's sprint and beach flags. She has won everything now for the last 12 months, internationally, nationally and regionally. She has to be first choice to be going to the worlds in the Netherlands in September - if they don't take her then something's definitely wrong.

"Outside those, the open men winning the ... ski relay, that's a first. It's never been done by this club and for me, I've never done it at a club where I've coached, so that was pretty cool."

The team was Sam Shergold, Oliver Puddick and Andrew Roy.

"But also someone like Tessa Bradley who won the under-16 girls run, swim, run in pretty testing conditions. It shows that if you keep working hard at something, you will eventually get it and that was a fantastic result by her."

But the title was for the club as a whole.

"It's just an awesome team to be part of and it's just getting better and better.

"Obviously the team sets high expectations of themselves and it's just putting a plan together to make sure they achieve it."

Bryant said having six of the Eastern Region's clubs in the top 10 showed the strength of the region with the Mount, Papamoa, who finished second overall, and Omanu plus Waikanae, Midway and Wainui all doing well.

"Papamoa definitely raced very, very well along with Omanu, but the really cool thing is that (the results) show real depth and that our leadership has helped other districts out that are close to us because they try and challenge us heaps and that really, really must help them out and it certainly helps us out.

"If we didn't have that sort of challenge from the regional clubs like Papamoa, Omanu and the Gissy clubs, then we may not be as strong as we are."