The penultimate day of the Health 2000 National Championships has set the stage for the first Men’s and Women’s champions of the decade to be crowned in Dunedin on Saturday.
Defending champion Billy Stairmand (Rag) won his first title ten years ago at the start of the last decade and has gone on to win seven across the last 10 years, the most of any surfer in the division. Tomorrow he will commence his charge for an eighth when he contests the semifinals alongside seven opponents determined to halt his reign.
Conditions are shaping up nicely early morning at St Clair Beach, however, increasing winds throughout the day may impact conditions for finals.
Today (Friday 10th January), conditions were the best of the five days yet with a clean 1.0m – 1.5m swell and light variable winds all day. A total of 13 titles were contested over the day ranging from the longboard through to the standup paddleboard, kneeboard and bodyboard.
Christchurch surfer Ambrose McNeill claimed the Longboard Division with a convincing victory and 12.6 point heat total, surfing in the National Championships for the first time in several years. McNeill defeated two-time champion Zen Wallis (Piha), who finished in runner-up ahead of early standout Cameron Haylock (Chch) and Billy Whealan (Manga).
In the Women’s Longboard Division, Gabi Paul (Piha) defended her title with a 10.0 point heat total with Jo Moore (Tara) finishing in second, Donna Henderson (Chch) in third and Tegen Bishop (Chch) in fourth.
Stand Up Paddleboard titles went to Jamie Andrews (Tara) who defended his title while 14 year old Amelie Wink (Chch) claimed the Women’s Division.
Senior titles went to Taranaki’s Jarred Hancox (Over 35s), Dunedin’s Simon Brennan (Over 45s) and Raglan’s Geoff Hutchison (Over 55s). Women’s Titles went to Dunedin’s Hayley Pascoe (Over 30s), Dunedin’s Tash Civil (Over 35s), Christchurch’s Donna Henderson (Over 40s) and Dunedin’s Ange Reardon (Over 45s) and Hawkes Bay’s Margeruite Vujcich (Over 60s).
Action will take place from 7:00am on Saturday morning at St Clair Beach. The event will be streamed live via the Sky Sport Next YouTube channel from 9:00am – 1:30pm.
Please see below for results from day five of the Health 2000 National Surfing Championships held at St Clair Beach, Dunedin today (Friday 10th January).
Under 18 Boys Division Semifinals
Heat 1
Jack Lee (Whaka), 14.46, 1, Tom Butland (Tara), 10.94, 2, Kora Cooper (Rag), 9, 3, Navryn Malone (Rag), 8.47, 4
Heat 2
Taylor O’Leary (Mur), 14.47, 1, Josef Jungwirth (Rag), 11.93, 2, Finn Vette (Gis), 11.23, 3, Jack Luke (Tara), 4.5, 4
Under 16 Boys Division Semifinals
Heat 1
Navryn Malone (Rag), 10.27, 1, Jayden Willoughby (Rag), 9.63, 2, Ryder Pennington (Tara), 7.26, 3, Tana Clapham (Rag), 5.87, 4
Heat 2
Finn Vette (Gis), 13.53, 1, Kora Cooper (Rag), 9.3, 2, Kalani Louis (Tara), 7.73, 3, Bill Byers (Piha), 6.77, 4
Over 40 Men’s Division Semifinals
Heat 1
Chris Malone (Gis), 11.6, 1, Alan Te Moananui (Kaik), 7.5, 2, Duan Reardon (Dun), 4.63, 3
Heat 2
Jason Matthews (Tara), 11.5, 1, Lyndon Fairbairn (Dun), 7.34, 2, Paul McFetridge (Tara), 6.43, 3
Men’s Standup Paddleboard Semifinals
Heat 1
Alan Te Moananui (Kaik), 10.3, 1, Jamie McCaw (Auck), 9.9, 2, Mark Stevenson (Dun), 7.83, 3
Men’s Standup Paddleboard Division Final
Jamie Andrews (Tara), 13.4, 1, Alan Te Moananui (Kaik), 11.2, 2, Jamie McCaw (Auck), 9.67, 3, Sam Loader (Chch), 5.9, 4
Men’s Longboard Division Round 1
Heat 1
Cameron Haylock (Chch), 13.67, 1, Billy Whealen (Manga), 8.5, 2, Jamie Andrews (Waitara), 8.5, 3
Heat 2
Zen Wallis (Piha), 12.16, 1, Benjamin Counsell (Mnt), 8.67, 2, Robert Counsell (Mnt), 3.96, 3
Heat 3
Ambrose McNeill (Chch), 12.07, 1, Natt Fitt (Auck), 11.36, 2, Jeff Paton (Dun), 5.57, 3
Men’s Longboard Division Semifinals
Heat 1
Zen Wallis (Piha), 11.9, 1, Billy Whealen (Manga), 9.23, 2, Benjamin Counsell (Mnt), 8.96, 3
Heat 2
Ambrose McNeill (Chch), 12.3, 1, Cameron Haylock (Chch), 10.4, 2, Natt Fitt (Auck), 10.3, 3
Men’s Longboard Division Final
Ambrose McNeill (Chch), 12.6, 1, Zen Wallis (Piha), 8.07, 2, Cameron Haylock (Chch), 6.74, 3, Billy Whealen (Manga), 5.74, 4
Women’s Longboard Division Semifinal
Heat 1
Donna Henderson (Chch), 8.53, 1, Josephine Moore (Tara), 5.74, 2, Lucy Te Moananui (Kaik), 5.23, 3, Mikayla Dyer (Chch), 3.07, 4
Heat 2
Gabi Paul (Piha), 11.7, 1, Tegen Bishop (Chch), 7, 2, Sarah Armstrong – Park (Chch), 5.9, 3, Margurite Vujcich (Hbay), 1.4, 4
Women’s Longboard Division Final
Gabi Paul (Piha), 10, 1, Josephine Moore (Tara), 6.9, 2, Donna Henderson (Chch), 5.97, 3, Tegen Bishop (Chch), 4.6, 4
Under 18 Longboard Division Semifinals
Heat 1
Ben Counsell (Auck), 15.7, 1, Noah Stratford (Dun), 7.43, 2, Jai Wallis (Piha), 7, 3
Kneeboard Division Final
Malcolm Diack (Dun), 13.3, 1, Kelvin Weir (Tara), 13.2, 2, Jeff Patton (Dun), 7.57, 3, Murray Weir (Tara), 6.47, 4
Women’s Standup Paddleboard Final
Amelie Wink (Chch), 8.97, 1, Lucy Te Moananui (Chch), 8.13, 2
Junior Longboard Division Final
Nat Fitt (Auck), 12.5, 1, Billy Whealan (Manga), 10.2, 2, Ben Counsell (Auck), 10.2, 3, Noah Stratford (Dun), 4.23, 4
Bodyboard Division Final
Aaron Lock (Chch), 15.6, 1, Zen Wallis (Piha), 8.6, 2, Jai Wallis (Piha), 3.54, 3
Women’s Bodyboard Division Final
Marguerite Vujcich (Hbay), 3.5, 1
Over 35 Men’s Division Final
Jarred Hancox (Tara), 14.2, 1, Chris Malone (Gis), 12.13, 2, Josh Thickpenny (Dun), 10.47, 3, Damian Phillips (Dun), 9.53, 4
Over 45 Men’s Division Final
Simon Brennan (Dun), 10.5, 1, Ben Kennings (WGM), 10.1, 2, Dawson Tamati (Tara), 8.17, 3, Lyndon Fairbairn (Dun), 6.83, 4
Over 55 Men’s Division Final
Geoff Hutchison (Rag), 12.3, 1, Neill Robb (Chch), 8.27, 2, John Roussey (Chch), 7.5, 3, Phil Wallis (Piha), 5.2, 4
2020 marks surfing’s debut as an Olympic sport and come July, New Zealand will have at least two athletes competing at the inaugural surfing event in Tokyo.
The Health 2000 National Surfing Championships is the first of several domestic events where Kiwi surfers will get the opportunity to push for selection into the New Zealand Team that will attend the World Surfing Games in May. Under International Surfing Association (ISA) guidelines, Stairmand and Williams along with Paige Hareb (Tara) and Ricardo Christie (Gis) are automatic selections for the New Zealand Team leaving only one spot each for the men and women.
It is the eighth time the National Championships has been held at Dunedin. The longest running surfing event in New Zealand takes place over six days from January 6-11. In the 56 year history of the event the Health 2000 National Surfing Championships has grown to encompass 29 divisions spread across all disciplines and age groups making for a largely inclusive event, filled with high level surfing as well as good times in and out of the water. Over 280 entries have been received for the event.
Further Information
For further information on the Health 2000 National Surfing Championships 2020 please contact Surfing New Zealand’s Ben Kennings on 021 2278732 or email benkennings@surfingnz.co.nz.
Imagery
High resolution action images of the surfing will be available to media free of charge upon request.
Event Hotline
The Surfing New Zealand event hotline is 0211134506. This will be updated daily at approximately 7am with venue, divisions contested and conditions.
Social Media
Keep up with all the action by following @surfingnz on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Use the hashtag #H2KNats2020 to follow the story.
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