Surf Lifesaving: Halligan determined to foot it with the 'top girls'

Devon Halligan came out of the worlds on a high. Photo / Jamie Troughton / Dscribe

New Zealand surf lifesaving star Devon Halligan is aiming to farewell her teens in style when she makes her debut in the Ironman series in Perth this weekend.

Halligan turns 20 on Monday and regardless of her performance in Perth the day before, she'll be able to reflect back on a breakthrough last 12 months. Fresh from winning the world championships with her Kiwi team, she's also the reigning New Zealand ironwoman champion and finished second in the same event at the Australian titles earlier in the year.

The daughter of former Kiwis league player Daryl Halligan is hoping to use her world championship success to boost her performance on the A$400,000 ($500,000) series.

"Last season, I was knocking on the door with the top girls and this season I reckon I can match it with them," Halligan said. "I came out of worlds on an absolute high last month and I don't know if that feeling in Adelaide can be topped, because it was so incredible to be part of that team environment. But that team spirit lifted me and made me that little bit more excited about being on the series."

Halligan, raised in Sydney by her Kiwi parents, is now based on the Gold Coast studying engineering at Griffith University and training with the local Kurrawa club. She qualified for the series in April, when she finished second to Rebecca Creedy at the Australian titles, which meant she could skip the tough qualifying series in September and concentrate on her worlds' campaign.

She also got a boost when fellow Kiwi Chris Moors qualified for the series in September. That's given Halligan the ideal training partner at Kurrawa, while Moors has been in the ideal position to see her progress.

"She's pretty powerful and she'll be a standout on the ski and also in the swimming legs," Moors said. "She'll be right up there. It would be a big call to say she'll win some rounds but she'll get better as the rounds progress and I wouldn't be surprised if there were some podium finishes, which would be pretty cool in a rookie year."

Halligan is the first New Zealand female to qualify for the series since Lucy Pengelly in 2007, although Aimee Berridge was called into the series for the final two rounds last season.

With reigning champion Liz Pluimers and her Northcliffe clubmate Kristyl Smith absent this year, a flurry of new female talent has emerged, including Halligan, Alyssa Bull and Jordan Mercer.

Further rounds will be held in New South Wales and Victoria next month, before the final three rounds in Queensland in February.