Surf lifesaving: Muriwai win top spot at North Island champs

Auckland's West Coast team, Muriwai, proved to be the champion team by winning the overall trophy for the North Island BP IRB Championships at Waihi yesterday.

Its 10-point margin over nearest rival, Spencer Park from Canterbury, was the widest margin between any of the 20 clubs.

Muriwai is proof that a champion team is better than a team of champions, with its highest individual crew placing second in the women's division.

Its second womens crew finished fourth along with its under-21 crew. The senior crew came sixth and were not entered in the premier division. But consistency in the four disciplines of tube, mass, assembly and single rescue events, made the difference.

"We've got to be proud of the Muriwai team," said Surf Lifesaving New Zealand board member and senior Muriwai club member, Tim Jago.

"They weren't a team this time last year. It's been an eight-month effort to pull them together. Andrew [Lancaster], our Powercraft Officer, has done a superb job of pulling them together and has taken them from zero to hero in that time.

"IRBs nationally are doing up to 60 per cent of all rescues and at Muriwai they are probably doing closer to 90 per cent," said Jago.

"Our lifeguards need to know how to operate and they need to be put through their paces that challenge their abilities."

Spencer Park was also consistent and competed in only three of the four divisions, while Wainui from Gisborne and St Clair from Dunedin were placed fourth and fifth respectively.