National Champs victory for Omanu

Almost two weeks on from our triumph at the National Champs we are still buzzing! What a fantastic end to the competitive season for Omanu Beach.

The last 12 months have been incredibly successful for the club claiming the Eastern Regional titles at both the Junior and the Senior level. As well as a strong standing at the National Oceans Championship, showing some amazing athletes coming through in the U11-14 age groups. To top it off the Masters retaining their national title and then the Seniors winning the Alan Gardner pointscore trophy, the first time for the club in its 78-year history. Not only this but it is the first time a club has won both the Masters and the Open/Senior divisions in the same year.  

A huge congratulations to everyone involved and as Coach Cory said it is not only the podium athletes we celebrate but the whole squad, they have all trained incredibly hard, pushed one another, and importantly built a strong culture where everyone is supporting one another and wants the club to do well.

This is an enormous achievement for the club and it shows the strength, depth and culture that the club have been developing for the past 12-24 months. We want to thank our athletes, coaches, parents, volunteers, sponsors and the wider Omanu community who have all got behind us and believed in our vision.

For those that weren't at the event it was an incredibly challenging conditions in Gisborne and touch and go leading up to it with events on the start line having to be pulled due to safety. Southerly winds, rain and heavy swells disrupting the first two days of the championships, with only a handful of finals able to be run and many events unable to go ahead as planned.  Full credit to the organisers who were constantly accessing safety and rejigging the programme in order to fit in the events whilst the conditions allowed. This made for a very long day particularly on the Saturday when the sun came out for a big day of competition on Midway Beach.

Photos below credit to: Christian Richardson, Jamie Troughton and Mark Weatherall