SA lifesavers give it their all
The third test was moved to Tuesday due to a poor weather forecast.
PHOTO: Gavin Ryan/Gameplan Media
THE South African and New Zealand teams put on the pressure during second test of the International Surf Rescue Challenge after Australia claimed the first test win on Saturday.
Australia showed their dominance on Saturday, but it was Sunday’s conditions that levelled the playing field and saw the Kiwi and South African teams close the gap significantly.
After Saturday’s opening test, the Australian team made it clear they were going to be the team to beat and the defending champions set the bar high.
South Africa finished in third position in the first test after a relatively slow start to the competition. On Sunday, a determined team took to the surf and increased the number of gold medals dramatically.
In the morning session alone the South African team bagged three gold medals. All three were won in the senior division in the men’s beach sprint, the mixed board relay and the men’s beach sprint relay.
The team swim events saw more dominance from Australia as both the juniors and open races were tightly controlled, while the highlight was Prue Davies coming first overall in the open team swim event.
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The two youth ski events produced drama aplenty as the surf caused mayhem as they paddled out. It was New Zealand and Australia who dominated the women’s and men’s ski race in the heavy surf.
When the sea conditions took a turn for the worse, the safety committee made a decision to suspend water events before both senior ski races.
In the flags arena, the Australian stranglehold on the gold medals was broken by Japan’s Shohgo Horie, who repeated his sensational win in the open men’s final on Saturday.
South African’s team captain, Dom Notten, attributed the narrowing of the Australian dominance to some shrewd team selections and tenacity in the tough ocean conditions.
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