Midway Beach, in hosting the Eastern Region Championships for the first time in its 57-year history, turned on an aquatic spectacle with scorching temperatures and 2-metre swells for the majority of the Tairawhitu Gisborne-sponsored carnival.
Held over three days during Anniversary weekend, the event turned out to be a massive test for most of the 530 competitors. Red Beach had close to 50 athletes taking part and came away from the ERCs after finishing in fourth place on overall points. It was the top Northern Region club at the event, collecting 4 Gold, 4 Silver and 11 Bronze medals.
“Across the three age divisions, our competitors did well in the challenging conditions,” said club captain Mark Readman.
“Nevertheless, the surf conditions handed out some lessons with regard to decision making. You have to finish an event before you can claim a placing,” he added.
“We saw success in the Open division with some of our U19 athletes stepping up. Four of them were in the Open Taplin which saw Red Beach claiming the Bronze.”
“The results pulled at these ERCs are a guide to what can be achieved at the Nationals at Mt Maunganui in late-March. Club coach Jack Gavin excelled in the Midway surf and we saw him on the podium on several occasions.”
The next major event for club athletes will be the Northern Region Championships at Omaha on 23 & 24 February.
Red Beach Placings at ERCs
GOLD (4)
U16 Womens Beach Sprint Marissa Porteous
U19 Mens Board Rescue Patrick Makgill, Blake Readman
U19 Mens Surf Race Patrick Makgill
Open Mens Board Relay Jack Gavin, Daniel Cairns, Hamish Gledhill
SILVER (4)
U16 Mens Ski Relay Jamie Ward, Kalani Gilbertson, Angus Henare
U19 Womens Double Ski Jade Hughes, Ella Moratti
U19 Womens Surf Canoe (L/C) Red Beach Red Hot Chillis
U19 Womens Surf Canoe (S/C) Red Beach Red Hot Chillis
BRONZE (11)
U16 Mens Beach Relay Angus Henare, Kalani Gilbertson, Jamie Ward, Ethan Anderson
U16 Womens Beach Sprint Marissa Porteous
U16 Womens Ski Relay Kate Fortes, Kate Rogers, Hannah Turner
U19 Mens Double Ski Kade Scheib, Sam Readman
U19 Mens 2km Beach Run Te Maia Pihema
Open Mens Surf Teams Jack Gavin, Daniel Cairns, Patrick Makgill, Kees Kramer
Open Mens Taplin Relay Jack Gavin, Patrick Makgill, Daniel Cairns, Hamish Gledhill, Kade Scheib, Sam Readman
Open Womens Ski Race Louise Aitken
Open Womens Board Race Louise Aitken
Open Mens Surf Race Jack Gavin
Open Mens Ironman Daniel Cairns
Overall Club Points at ERCs
Mt Maunganui (165) 1, Waikanae (123) 2, Midway (64) 3, Red Beach (39) 4, Omanu (38) 5, Mairangi Bay (37) 6, East End (34) 7, Orewa (32) 8, Lyall Bay (29) 9, Ocean Beach (26) 10, Piha (22) 11, Papamoa (19) 12, Wainui (15) 13, Otaki (11) 14, Waimarama (10) 15, Whakatane (8) 16, Opotiki (7) 17, Fitzroy (4) 18, Maranui (3) 19, Westshore (3) 20.