Waimarama rule waves
Club nurtures its young lifesavers through to the stage of winning titles
One of Hawke’s Bay sport’s longest winning streaks has been broken, with Waimarama emerging victorious in the 2022 Hawke’s Bay Surf Lifesaving Senior Championships.
The Waimarama club said the win ended an extended period of dominance by Westshore, who have claimed the previous 18 annual championships — a competition also contested by the Ocean Beach Kiwi and Pacific surf lifesaving clubs.
Waimarama club captain Bella Bassett-Foss said the win reflects many years of planning and supporting surf athletes from the club’s strong junior programme as they progress into the senior ranks.
“It’s a big process to manage the transition of junior participants, to retaining them as a lifeguard and senior athlete. With the many competing demands on young people these days, many drop out,” she said.
“If you can retain the kids, the families come with them. Parents getting involved in the club means they help out with competitions, on the barbecue, putting up tents, becoming qualified IRB drivers or officials, and some of them even become lifeguards too. Waimarama are proud to have such a strong focus on family and community.”
She paid credit to Westshore for setting the standard over such an extended period, producing capable athletes across all age groups to gain a steady stream of competition points — seen as the key to winning the title.
Waimarama’s nationally competitive Inflatable Rescue Boat (IRB) squad continued their own recent dominance to claim all available points in the IRB racing section of the competition.
The club was also to the fore in the Open and Under 19 male events taking out individual and team titles in surf ski, paddle board and ocean swim events — a feat almost matched by Waimarama’s Open Women athletes, who picked up every title except one.
The prestigious Open Ironman and Ironwomen titles — which seeathletes compete in a gruelling multidiscipline event involving swim, board and ski legs — were also collected by Waimarama athletes, Ryan Good and club captain Bassett-Foss, with the latter triumphing for the seventh consecutive year.
The final club points tally saw Waimarama collect 423 points to Westshore’s 354 points, with Ocean Beach Kiwi third on 61 points.
Bassett-Foss says Waimarama’s future looks bright with a wealth of talented juniors being supported to become senior athletes and lifeguards.
“We look forward to lining up against our sister clubs in Hawke’s Bay to battle it out again next year!”