Moodie wins first NZ surf lifesaving gold

Hawke's Bay's Daniel Moodie grabbed gold at the Australian surf lifesaving championships on the Gold Coast today, helping his star-studded Northcliffe club win the open men's surf teams race.

It was the first official gold by a New Zealander at the week-long championships at Kurrawa Beach, and Taranaki's Ayla Dunlop-Barrett could yet add to the tally.

Moodie joined with Australian team members Shannon Eckstein and Dev Lahey and ironman star Pierce Leonard in the Northcliffe team which romped home in the final, while Moodie also made it through the quarterfinals of the individual surf race.

Dunlop-Barrett took silver in Tuesday's surf teams race, although there was some controversy because of a mix-up with the Northcliffe A and B teams, meaning she may still be elevated to gold.

And she was on track for gold in the tube rescue final, too, before horrible luck with the conditions consigned her to bronze.

"There is so much drift along there - we were first out of the water but we had to run a long way down to the finish line dragging our patient," Dunlop-Barrett said. "The teams that started down the far end had a big advantage."

She was still delighted with her decision to join the Northcliffe club for the event.

"I've never been to Aussies and I didn't want to go through my career without experiencing it. It's pretty nice to pick up some medals along the way."

The New Plymouth Old Boys lifeguard has made Sunday's final of the individual surf race as well, although she's well aware how hard that event will be.

Tauranga's Mike Janes, representing the Kurrawa club, grabbed bronze in the 2km beach run for the second year in a row, finishing just behind clubmate Andrew Grimshaw and adrift of defending champion Stephen Madden (Tugun), but was delighted with his performance.

"I buttoned off a bit to save myself for the ironman later on but it still hurt," Janes said. "It's really good to get a medal and it makes the weekend a bit easier having already got a medal because it takes the pressure off a bit."

Others New Zealanders to progress include Kevin Morrison and Dan Nelson, who are both into the semifinals of the men's ski race, while Paul Cracroft-Wilson was third in his quarterfinal of the open men's beach sprint.

Muriwai's Jess Parr made it through the semifinals of the ironwoman.

Cracroft-Wilson and South Brighton's Chanel Hickman will be in action of their favoured beach flags preliminaries tomorrow.

- NZPA