Sideline Sid Sports correspondant & historian www.sunlive.co.nz

With the Cricket World Cup taking a bit of a breather this week after the drama of the Black Caps match against the chaps from across the ditch at Eden Park last Saturday, the reality is there's plenty of other sporting action in the Western Bay and the rest of New Zealand at present.

The zenith for most sports in the country is the National Championships, where the best are tested, usually in red hot action. There are plenty of local surf lifesaving surf sport competitors, counting down the days to the New Zealand Surf Lifesaving Championships, to be staged in Gisborne between 12-15March.

Today's Surf Lifesaving Nationals are a massive event, with open men's and women's, plus age group competitors taking part in beach races, swimming and paddling events and canoes and surf boats races from early morning until late in the afternoon. Well over one thousand participants and many more supporters will hit Midway Beach in Gisborne for four days of non-stop action.

The first New Zealand Surf Life Nationals were held in 1915 in Napier where the only event was the Six Man Rescue and Resuscitation with belt and reel. The Six Man R&R winner received what for many years was considered the biggest prize at the Nationals - the Nelson Shield. The winners were then entitled to wear the Championship blazer of the Association.

There was a six-year break to the next National Championships in 1921, mainly necessitated by WW1, with WW2 also putting the National event on hold.

In the first couple of decades, the competition was directly related to the surf reel used for rescues and honing individual skills. The individual Beltmans title and Four Man R&R were introduced in 1927, followed by the individual Surf Race and Surf Teams race in 1934.

For many years the most spectacular sight at the National Championships was the March Past Championship. The sight of the all competing teams lining up and marching past the dais on salute was a wonderful sight. Sadly, like the R&R events, they remain only a distant memory.

A program from the 1936 Auckland SLS Championships held at Ohope Beach in the Eastern Bay of Plenty, shows the limited competition events of the day.

The program opened with the heats of the (Men's) Surf Belt Race followed by the Girls' Land Drill Championship. R&R competition was followed by the Surf Teams Race and Pillow Fight event, with the day ending with the March Past Championship and Grand Parade.

The early National Championships were administered by the Royal Lifesaving Society until the formation of the New Zealand Surf Lifesaving Association in 1932. In 1933 a Junior Six Man R&R event was introduced, with further Junior competition in subsequent years and Women invited to compete from 1944.

The early days are a far cry from today's modern world of instant communication and wall-to-wall sport on television. However, one thing that hasn't changed is the volunteer lifeguard service requirement, from surf sport athletes old and new.