Kiwi surf lifesaver stuns Aussie rivals

It's enough to make any self-respecting Aussie surf lifesaver turn over in his cossie.

Taranaki's Ayla Dunlop-Barrett struck a blow at the very heart of the sport across the ditch by winning the women's belt race title at the Australian championships on the Gold Coast today.

Dunlop-Barrett, representing Queensland's Northcliffe club, headed home defending champion Naomi Flood (Manly) in heavy, dumping surf at Kurrawa Beach, the first time a New Zealander has ever won gold in the event.

"I thought Naomi had it in the bag on the start line - she's such an awesome competitor," Dunlop-Barrett said. "I have so much respect for her and it feels pretty good to beat her but that last 50m in that race was pretty tough. We got hit by a couple of big sets on the way out and it was definitely the hardest one I've done."

Her achievement is even more remarkable given it's only the second time she's ever done the event - the first was at last weekend's Queensland state titles.

The belt race is threaded throughout the sport's history, with a swimmer taking a line out through the surf in a race to the buoys, a nod to when a belt and reel were the most utilised lifesaving equipment on a beach.

But the advent of IRBs has rendered it obsolete and the belt race hasn't been raced at the New Zealand championships since 2000.

Ironically, the last national champions were Glenn Anderson - Dunlop-Barrett's fiance and coach at her New Plymouth Old Boys club - and his sister Rachael.

But Australia is a different story, where recent belt champions include ironman superstar Zane Holmes.

It's been a big week for the Dunlop-Barrett clan. Ayla also picked up medals with Northcliffe in the surf teams race (silver) and tube rescue (bronze), while her younger brother Dylan smashed Danyon Loader's 20-year-old 800m record at the New Zealand swimming championships on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, another Taranaki product - sprinter Paul Cracroft-Wilson - picked up bronze in the men's beach sprint today and anchored his Kurrawa team to a memorable win in the beach relay, along with compatriots Morgan Foster and Steve Harris.

Harris, Foster and Cracroft-Wilson also qualified for the tomorrow's beach flags final. Two other Kurrawa New Zealanders - Chris Moors and Nick Malcolm - helped the club to third in the open men's taplin.

Mount Maunganui teenager Jess Miller also had an eventful day, winning silver in the under-15 surf race and bronze in the tube race.

- NZPA