Olympian Flood Returns For Redemption and Renewal

Surf Life Saving Australia, September 18, 2013: Onjuku, Japan: The Australian Life Saving Team is banking on the return of Olympian Naomi Flood and the injection of some exciting fresh faces as it seeks redemption against arch rivals New Zealand in this week’s three-Test International Surf Rescue Challenge in Japan.

Lachlan-Tame-and-Naomi-Flood

The 12-strong Australian team left the World Championships in Adelaide last year, well and truly beaten by a re-juvenated Kiwi outfit, who will start favourites again in the first major international competition of 2013.

This week’s surf series has attracted National teams from Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Japan, USA, Korea and Hong Kong.

The Australians, with rising Ironman star Kendrick Louis and three-time National single champion Lachlan Tame making open team debut alongside team captain Shannon Eckstein and with swim star Eliza Smith also making her debut, the Australians are going through a renewal stage as they prepare for next year’s World Championships in France.

“We won’t be taking anything for granted this time and we know the Kiwis have a very strong team,” said Australia’s National Head Coach Danny Short.

“They (the Kiwis) are the world champions and we know we’ve got our work cut out if we’re going to have any success against them.

“It’s an event of redemption for us. To a degree we were well and truly beaten in Adelaide, both in the pool and in the surf and this is our first real competitive step towards Rescue 2014.

“The inclusion of Naomi alongside Kristyl Smith, Shannon and Mel Howard has really lifted the spirit of the team.

“There are three or four new caps in the team. It’s probably come as a bit of a shock to them, the amount of passion these athletes demonstrate.”

Short said losing to the Kiwis was a good thing.

“We had known it was coming for a few years and no one in that team in Adelaide had ever lost to the Kiwis….I was the only one who had been around long enough to have lost to them,” said the former National team member.

“I think the level of hurt really shone through and it’s really pushed us to the next level now.

“We’ve still got our work cut out, make no mistake about it, It’s really going to be hard, really hard but I think we are on the right track.

“The Australian-Kiwi rivalry is great for the sport; a lot of countries are probably pretty happy the Kiwis won last year; it’s does wonders for the sport; the level of competition spikes and gives us a real push and if we have any level of complacency you lose.”

Flood, fresh from a six-week tour with team debutant, Tame from Avoca has brought instant passion and professionalism back to the team she had been part of in previous successful World Championship campaigns.

“Naomi walks in to the room and straight away the room lifts; we walked down the beach yesterday afternoon and her aggression shone through,” said Short.

“In competitive sport you need to be aggressive in a positive way and she oozes that sort of stuff and I think her Olympic experience has certainly shone through from a professional point of view to a level that we haven’t seen in this team before and I’m just wrapped to have her in the team.”

Flood, who has her sights set on a K1 berth on the 2016 Olympic team for Rio, said she was “stocked and privileged” to be asked to nominate for the team again.

“There were a lot of things that didn’t go right in Adelaide and I definitely didn’t want to be part of a losing team coming back here to resurrect the Australian name and the Australian team as number one on in lifesaving,” said Flood,

“I was pretty stoked and privileged to be called back into the team with Shannon, Kendrick and with Lachlan (Tame) getting a start…it’s really cool and we’ve got a good group and everyone is on the same page as we go forward on the journey to getting the world title back next year.”

The clash between Flood and New Zealand’s London Olympic kayak gold medallist Lisa Carrington will be one of the mouthwatering duels in a three-Test series that is certain to go down to the wire.

Flood will also take her place in the open women’s beach relay alongside champion beach flagger Melissa Howard, swimmer Eliza Smith and ironwoman Kristyl Smith, while Australia’s open men’s beach relay will be beach sprint star Dean Scarff, Tame and swimmers Tim Schofield and Dev Lahey.

The opening ceremony will be held this afternoon with the First Test match for Opens on Thursday and the final two Tests on Saturday and Sunday. The Sanyo Bussan International Life Saving Challenge trophy will be presented to the team with the highest overall points.

Australia, under the direction of former Ironman and Kurrawa Head Coach Phil Clayton, will also field a new look Under 20s team, keen to keep its winning streak in tact from last year’s World Championships in Adelaide.

The Australian Team is: Men Shannon Eckstein (Northcliffe), Kendrick Louis (Newport), Dean Scarff (Collaroy), Jake Lynch (Newport), Lachlan Tame (Avoca), Tim Schofield (Terrigal), Dev Lahey (Northcliffe). Women: Kristyl Smith (Northcliffe), Rachelle King (Terrigal), Naomi Flood (Manly), Miranda Bell (Northcliffe), Melissa Howard (Kurrawa), Eliza Smith (Northcliffe).

Under 20 Development Team

Men: Luke Cuff (Kurrawa),Stefaan Demopolous (Northcliffe), Isaac Costello (Redhead), Billy Bain (Mooloolaba), Ben Carberry (Warilla Barrack Point), Jackson Symonds (Sorento WA). Women: Emma Dick (Mermaid Beach) Maddy Dunn (Mooloolaba), Tiarn Raymond (Mooloolaba), Miranda Davies (Currumbin), Elyssia Gasperotto (Terrigal), Gabrielle Murphy (City of Perth)

Issued on behalf of Surf Life Saving Australia...

Ian Hanson

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