Close to 400 surf athletes at 61st Owen Chapman Cup surf carnival

A concerted effort by Red Beach athletes was the key to their taking back the Owen Chapman Cup on Saturday 7 January.
The annual carnival, hosted by Red Beach, was the 61st year of competition for the iconic trophy which was won by a margin of 25 points. Orewa and Mairangi Bay finished second and third respectively.

It’s the longest running club day in Australasia for surf athletes and close to 400 took part, making it one of the biggest attendances in recent years.
This year’s event had a distinctive international flavour to it. Local lifeguards found themselves up against two representative teams from Australia’s Central Coast and NSW Country branches who provided 38 athletes. Both teams were in Auckland recently to compete in the biennial Trans-Tasman Tri Series.
Also in the mix were 13 young athletes from Sydney’s Avalon Beach club who added some spice to the U16 age categories.

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Nine clubs from the northern region were represented, along with four clubs from outside the region. The appearance of 47 athletes from the strong Mt Maunganui club injected some fierce competition to the event and the standard seen on the day is what competitors can expect at the NZ Championships in March.

The Owen Chapman Cup can only be won by a club from the Northern region. Up for grabs was the Jubilee Trophy for all-comers to the event and this year’s clear winner was Mt Maunganui with 152 points. In joint second place were Red Beach and Orewa with 94 points each.
The next outing for clubs will be the Eastern Regional Championships to be held over two days at the end of January.

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Photos by Ross Malyon.