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Sports correspondent & historian with |
Four days of intense competition wound up on the New Zealand Surf Lifesaving Championships on Mount Main Beach on Sunday.
The Mount Maunganui Lifeguard Service won the top prize of the Allan Gardner Memorial Trophy, awarded for the most competition points, for the 10th successive year.
The Mount Maunganui Surf Lifesaving Club’s first visit to the National Championships in 1934 was a far cry from today’s world of modern vehicles, quality accommodation and social media communication.
The following is a report written by Bernie Baker a life member of the club and a member of the team.
“It was decided to send a team to the New Zealand championships (held on Takapuna Beach} which was a very ambitious decision as the team members had little experience (and less money), however the Mount community (population around 140) got behind the team.
“We duly selected a team of seven, which wasn’t difficult as the club only has seven active members. Tom Magee, George Barney, Norn Hooker, Con Kelliher, Gilmore Pemberton, Pat Petty and myself.
“At the time there were only three cars and two small trucks at the Mount but we managed to borrow an old Essex from Bill Mathews the local grocer. We sent an advance part of Con Kelliher and Norm Hooker on Thursday by train with our gear.
“We set sail on Friday morning with high hopes but about half a mile from Katikati we ran a big end. Pat and myself without any mechanical knowledge decided to pull the sump off rather than push the car to Katikati. We found the offending culprit all right so off we march into Katikati, hoping to buy a new bearing shell.
“When a new part wasn’t available we decided that the next best thing would be a piece of leather so off the saddler we went. Unfortunately the makeshift part lasted only as far as the Athenree Gorge so we journeyed on to a Waihi Garage. The night was spent wandering the town and trying to sleep in the paint shop behind the garage.
“After unsuccessful attempts to get the car going next day it was decided to take a Waihi Taxi to Auckland (the price was twelve pound). We duly set sail at 5pm on Saturday and arrived in Auckland just in time to catch the last ferry to Takapuna.
“Arrived after midnight and after we couldn’t find the advance guard (and tent) walked to Milford looking for the missing crew and equipment. After no finding any signs of the other team members, we walked back to Takapuna and finished what was left of the night on the clubhouse floor sans blankets.
“On Sunday, you can imagine how fit we were but we staggered on to the Takapuna beach and participated in the day’s events (we had already missed two days of competition)”. “Believe it or not we didn’t come last, in spite of our patient still struggling to get to the buoy, when other teams had arrived back on the beach. When we did eventually arrive, our beltman Tom Magee put up a great show and restored some of our lost pride.”
It was recorded that the team arrived back at the Mount late on Monday after picking up parts for the car in Auckland and having them fitted in Waihi.