Crickelewood farmer Paul Swann has never shorn fulltime, but still finished sixth in the Golden Shears Senior final - watched by a son and two daughters also competing despite the storm damage back home. Photo / Pete Nikolaison
Crickelewood farmer Paul Swann has never shorn fulltime, but still finished sixth in the Golden Shears Senior final - watched by a son and two daughters also competing despite the storm damage back home. Photo / Pete Nikolaison
To say the performance of the Wairoa District’s Swann family at the return of the Golden Shears last week was out the gate is more than figurative.
It was out the back gate, as father Paul, son Ryka, and twin daughters Ashlin and Shawna overcame the obstacle of a closed main road out the front gate and put the ravages of Cyclone Gabrielle behind them to get to Masterton.
Normally a four-and-a-half-hour main roads trip from the 1400ha of Cricklewood farmland for the big three days in Masterton, there was at least 18 hours of driving spanning 10 days, leaving mother Sonya in charge back home as the rest of the family indulged in the return of the Golden Shears after two years of pandemic cancellations.
They were able to get out through Rangiahua Rd to Lake Rd and head west to start the three successive days of warm-up events at the Taumarunui Shears on February 24, followed by the Apiti Sports and Pahiatua Shears on Saturday and Sunday respectively.
When it was decided it was impossible to get back to the farm for a couple of days, there was a day or two in a woolshed near Mt Bruce, north of Masterton, putting the finishing touches to the prep work, thanks to the initiative of veteran competitor Digger Balme, from Otorohanga.
While the family of four did not win any of the titles – as they had in 2020 when Ryka won the Novice Shearing final – they did have remarkable success across the board, from the skills acquired shearing mainly on the sheep on the family farm.
Paul Swann, 43, having never shorn fulltime and reckoning the most he’s ever done in a season is about 4000, was one of 46 in the senior class and was sixth in the final in which Clay Harris, of Piopio, scored his eighth win of the season.
Ryka, at 17 and embarking on a building apprenticeship, was one of 54 in the junior class, from which he was third-to-top qualifier for the semifinals, and top qualifier for the final, in which he was sixth.
Ryka Swann, 17, of Cricklewood, shearing in the Golden Shears Junior championship in Masterton last week. The winner of the novice final when the Golden Shears was last held in 2020, before two years of pandemic cancellations, Swann was sixth this year, after being the top-qualifier for the final. Photo / Pete Nikolaison
The 14-year-old Shawna and Ashlin finished 18th and 29th respectively among the 51 who contested the novice heats, but were the only shearers in the field to “zero”, meaning neither occurred any penalties of their shearing ability on the board, where sheep are shorn with judges standing almost in the same space.
Each had also reached at least one final in the previous weekend, Paul finishing third at final shakedown of the Pahiatua Shears, and on February 11 there was major success at the Te Puke A&P Show, with Paul and Ryka winning their events and Ashlin beating Shawna in a novice event in which they were the only two entries.
Wairoa College pupil Shawna Swann, 14, shearing in the novice heats on the opening day of the Golden Shears in Masterton last Thursday. While she didn't qualify for the semifinal, she did complete the perfect job on the shearing board, with no penalties, a feat equalled on the day only by sister Ashlin. Photo / Pete Nikolaison
On the Waitangi Day holiday weekend run of three shows there had been other success, including Paul and Ashlin’s second placings at the Dannevirke A&P Show, Ashlin’s fourth placing the next day at Marton, and Paul’s third placing a win for Ryka at Aria.
The Golden Shears took place in a euphoric atmosphere, as more than 400 shearers, woolhandlers and woolpressers revelled in being able to chase the “Goldies” ribbons for the first time since March 2020.
Often referring themselves as one big family, there were numerous extensive family groupings and connections similar to those of the Swanns, who will now be chasing ribbons at the New Zealand Shears in Te Kite on March 30-April 1, along with another sibling, Keith, a former winner who has been shearing in Australia and who will be tackling the New Zealand Open class for the first time.
In the meantime, there’s fencing and bulldozing to do so that the farm can get back to normal, running about 1000 head of cattle and 4500.
Shearing twins Shawna and Ashlin Swan, 14, pictured at the Hawke's Bay Show's Great Raihania Shears last October. Shearing in the Golden Shears Novice grade last week, each achieved the rare and vaunted "Zero" - neither incurring any penalties on the shearing board. They were the only competitors in the one-sheep Novice heats of 51 competitors to do so, although their combinations of board and pen judging and time points were not sufficient to qualify for the semifinals. Photo / Supplied
It’s a busy life, with holidays and weekends off spent much on the farm hunting or camping, but there’s no end in sight for the shearing which, because they’re the family’s own, are key to the quality they’ve taken to the competitions.
There is also work at the Wairoa Showgrounds where the flooding from Cyclone Gabriella destroyed some buildings, including part of the shearing facilities for which Paul Swann is responsible for as convener of the annual show’s Wairoa Shears.
Despite having never shown fulltime, he’s planning to step up to the tough open grade, and is also aiming to be competition judge.
