Hey Team,
I know it's not long since the last update but so much has unfolded in a week.
Firstly the news that NZ Youth Team pulled in an overall SILVER!!🥈 - 2nd Overall out of 56 Countries! A great ending to a very long week.
Australia won with 977 points, NZ second on 699 and Italy third with 664.
On The Beach
The team did amazingly well with some stand out performances .. Gus Shivnan taking out Gold and being named U19 world champion in the surf race, Jayden Murphy smashed out Gold in the ski race & Oska Smith taking the Gold for the beach sprints! .. George and Jack took home Bronze in the board rescue and Lachie Falloon who co-captained alongside Zoe took out Bronze in the Board Race. Summer Rolston came in 3rd in the Oceanwoman, Jayden Murphy 2nd in the Oceanman. The NZ girls Ocean Relay team came in to take the Bronze, the Boys took out Silver and the mixed team brought home 2nd place! The boys in the beach relay put their pedal to the metal to take home silver too!
In the Rescue Tube Rescue Zoe, Talitha and the girls took out 2nd place literally just behind the Aussies.
Was a mix of emotions on the beach and tough few days with up's and down's .. but an absolutely incredible effort by everyone and a lot of amazing results! 💥
In The Pool
In the pool Jack Keepa put on a sterling performance in the final of 100 Manikin Carry to bring home Silver. Zoe annihilated her 200 Super Lifesaver, making the final in lane 8, the outside lane and bringing home a SMASHING performance to knock nearly 4 seconds off the NZ record and take home a well-deserved Silver! Video above of her 200 Super Lifesaver race 💥 ... Zoe also had a fantastic run in the 100 Manikin Tow, breaking another NZ record and bringing home another Silver.
Another stand out performance for me in the pool was Lucy Bartlett's 100 Rescue medley. This is an absolutely awful race, it blows my mind watching them swim this every time. . They swim 50m, at the end they turn around and have to swim 17.5m all underwater and collect the 65kg manikin off the bottom of the pool and then take him home. All without fins! Lucy put down an incredibly solid swim and came in 5th! 5th U19 in the world. What these guys and gals do is so incredibly amazing. These people are the ones on our beaches ready to save lives. Aren't we all blessed! 🙏
It was an incredible all-round effort to take home 2nd place overall... There were many 4ths and many performances in the top 10 which was phenomenal to see. A great bunch of athletes who put everything into putting their foot on the line over the last week and it all to lead to a great final result - NZ Youth Overall - SILVER! 🥈
Zoe's results are below -
SILVER🥈 - 100 Manikin Tow - NZ Record - They dive in with fins on & collect the manikin waiting at the end & tow him home.
SILVER🥈 - 200 Super Lifesaver - Smashed NZ Record by nearly 4 seconds - They swim first 50 no fins, turns around and swims half way and collects 65kg manikin off ground and takes it to the end.. They then collect tube and fins and swim 50m and collect 2nd manikin and tow him home.
VIDEO ATTACHED ABOVE TO VIEW 200 SUPER LIFESAVER
SILVER🥈 - Rescue Tube Rescue - first athlete swims to buoy & second athlete (Zoe) runs in with tube & fins & goes to collect them & tows them home.. Once they reach shore the athlete is dragged over the line by two more athletes.
4th - 100 Manikin Carry
4th - 4 x 50 Obstacle Relay
4th - 4 x 50 Medley Relay
6th - 4 x 25 Manikin Relay
7th - Surf Race
7th - 4 x Lifesaver Relay
9th - 200 Obstacles
After a long week they all deserve a well-deserved break.
The In's & Out's Of The Week ...
The team played tourists the week prior seeing a few of the surrounding sights of Riccione, obviously with trainings scattered throughout the day as well. They had an amazing time! Super grateful to the NZ Surf management team for organising all that.
A big thank you to Zoe's support crew who went over.. My sister and cousin Neil flew in from the UK and my Dad flew over as well. By the looks of the photos they drank Italy dry and ate incredible food every night haha. I was extremely grateful for them being there and for Zoe having a support crew on the ground. There was unfortunately no live -streaming so every night they would live-stream me to watch the races so I definitely felt part of it even being so far away!
What's next for Zoe ? Who knows exactly but definitely some time out of the pool when she returns. She'll get stuck into summer surf training on the beach and she's also signed up for summer hockey which will give her a change of focus for a wee while.
Is there any big stuff lined up next? Next year Northern region surf are running a Trans-Tasman competition which Zoe will put her name forward for. NZ Surf lifesaving will also take a team to the International Surf Rescue Challenge which I think is held in America next year so again she'll put her name forward for that. She's also possibly looking at trialling for U18's REP Harbour hockey team in April.
If you haven't guessed by now, Zoe's energy runs off this sort of stuff ... So there will be plenty to keep her occupied and her energy alive.
For those looking for my new Facebook, I've had to go incognito so they will let me back in. So for now you'll find me under 'Liza Crawford' 😂 until I can slowly change my name back.
Thanks again for everything. Your help and support has been so enormously appreciated. We are forever grateful 🙏💜
Over and out until next time!
Lisa & Zoe 🌸
