Waterskiing: Green sweeps top titles

Auckland's Lance Green took Kai Iwi Lakes by storm, dominating the premier event at the 2012 NZ Home Loans National Water Ski Championships.

The 30-year-old cleaned up the hotly contested open men's division, winning the tricks, slalom and jump disciplines. Green took out the tricks division, with a top score of 7490 points, and then slalomed two buoys on an 11.25m line at 58km/h.

He then went on to narrowly win the jumps category with a jump of 50.8m, while Auckland's Michael Evans was close behind, landing a 50.3m jump.

Northland's Cole Atkinson won bronze with a 48.4m jump.

The national championships, which kicked off a week ago, are hosted by the Northern Region's Kai Iwi Lakes Water Ski Club every five years.

Heavy rain and strong wind marred the first few days of the championships, delaying events and causing organisers to shuffle the schedule to finish last night

Around 85 competitors from around New Zealand travelled to Northland for the event, and people had planes and ferries booked to get back to their home towns so extending the event was not an option, Northern Region Water Ski Association president Glen Williams said.

"However, we got some good weather thankfully, and while the wind was still present, it was not as bad ... it has been tough with the weather but in the end we came through - everyone has been in good spirits and there's been some good skiing," Williams said.

Northland water skiers were to the fore, the defending Northland Water Ski team looked likely to retain the team national title for the third consecutive year, while Toni Atkinson secured a gold medal in the open women's jumps, landing a personal best of 36.9m.

Fourteen-year-old Curtis Williams was third in the under-17 boys' slalom event, and Aaron Baldwin won bronze in the open men's slalom.

Meanwhile, 37-year-old Sarah Wainwright's experience paid off when she fought off competitors 17 years younger than her in the open women's slalom event. "She was the oldest skier in the field and she was up against girls with an average age of 19 or 20, so it was a pretty good effort," Williams said.