The Surf Life Saving New Zealand Team made history at the International Pool Challenge in early October by beating Australia for the first time in eight years.

With pride on the line, Trans-Tasman rivalry was fierce in Christchurch with both teams pushing each other to national records.

At the end of competition the New Zealand Team were on 74 points, 12 ahead of the Australian team. That points score along with over 10 New Zealand records over the three day competition made for extremely exciting racing.

The Surf Life Saving New Zealand Team made history at the International Pool Challenge in early October by beating Australia for the first time in eight years.

With pride on the line, Trans-Tasman rivalry was fierce in Christchurch with both teams pushing each other to national records.

At the end of competition the New Zealand Team were on 74 points, 12 ahead of the Australian team. That points score along with over 10 New Zealand records over the three day competition made for extremely exciting racing.

“The team were ecstatic, said SLSNZ’s Sport Manager Mark Weatherall. “To win the first ever International Pool Challenge on home turf was really exciting, the fact that the team broke record after record was testament to the preparation they did going into the competition, and the focus they had on improving their skills.

“At the end of the pool component of the World Lifesaving Championships in February we were 34 points behind Australia; our athletes have improved exponentially since then and can only get better as we get closer to the next World Championships in Germany in 2008.

Despite attending the World Lifesaving Championships for many years, the foray into pool events is relatively recent for SLSNZ’s sport programme. After many years of Trans-Tasman and Tri-Nations competition, this was the first International Pool event between New Zealand and Australia.

The World Lifesaving Championships programme includes an equal number of pool and beach events, with over 30 countries competing. While Australia and New Zealand were placed first and second at the 2006 World Lifesaving Championships both countries have struggled to be competitive in the pool events favoured by northern hemisphere countries.

“Our ultimate goal is to win the World Life Saving Championships in 2008. With the pool component equating for half of the points of the Championships, the vast improvement we have seen over the last year is extremely promising for SLSNZ’s 2008 campaign, said Weatherall.

Both nations had teams of 12 swimmers, six female and six male competitors that competed in everything from simulated rescue situations to manikin tows over the three days of competition. Out of the team of 12 four of the athletes were development athletes.

New Zealand’s strongest component was their relays. “The results of our relay teams were very encouraging, said Weatherall. “They were indicative of the overall strength and depth within the team.

Stand out individuals of the competition included Team Captain Glenn Anderson and Julia Toomey. Anderson posted a number of national records including the 100m Rescue Medley and the 50m Manikin carry where he almost took a second off the original record set at the World Lifesaving Championships in 2004.

Toomey had a number of outstanding swims especially in the challenging 100m Rescue Medley where she broke the NZ record by over three seconds.

Although this was the first year the International Challenge was held, it is set to become a permanent fixture on the international Surf Life Saving competition calendar.