News of New Zealanders via Global Media

Call Him Breathless

Call Him Breathless

New Zealand freediver William Trubridge, 29, has set the world record for the longest dive without using fins by plunging 116m into world’s deepest underwater sinkhole, in the Bahamas. Trubridge battled nitrogen narcosis as…

She’s a Sensation

She’s a Sensation

Fifteen-year-old wildcard Sarah Mason surprised the crowd at New Plymouth’s Fitzroy Beach beating current surfing world champion Stephanie Gilmour in the third round of the TSB Bank Classic. Mason handled the 1–1.5m waves more…

Quincey Does it Solo

Quincey Does it Solo

Tasman rower Shaun Quincey, 24, has become the second person to successfully paddle across the stretch of water since his father did the same, though in the opposite direction, in 1977. Hundreds of family…

In Father’s Strokes

In Father’s Strokes

New Zealand adventurer Shaun Quincey, 25, hopes to follow his father Colin Quincey into the history books by becoming the second person to row solo the 2200km from Australia to New Zealand. His father…

For the Pros

For the Pros

The New Zealand company behind Europe’s first artificial surf reef at Boscombe in Bournemouth, ASR Limited, has said the reef, now opened to the public, would provide a “substantial benefit” to the beachside community in terms…

Single-minded

Single-minded

New Zealander Mahé Drysdale, 31, has won his fourth consecutive men’s single skulls title at the world rowing championships in Poznan, Poland. “I still can’t quite believe it,” Drysdale said. “This is the first…

Promise at Piha

Promise at Piha

The world’s top young surfers will take to the waves at Piha from January 20–28 next year competing in the 2010 Quiksilver ISA World Junior Surfing Championship. The event will attract 250 of the…

Unbeatable on the Thames

Unbeatable on the Thames

New Zealand have beaten the British at the five-day Henley Royal Regatta winning gold in four finals. New Zealand won the head-to-head clashes 3-2, Mahé Drysdale getting revenge for the 2007 final against Alan…

Seattle Calling

Seattle Calling

Hamilton-born Simon Taylor is rowing for the University of Washington’s men’s varsity eight, choosing the Seattle University over the likes of Yale, Princeton and Harvard, and America over the 2012 New Zealand Olympic team….

To Henley Royal

To Henley Royal

New Zealand Rowing has confirmed that after the Munich World Cup in June, the entire team will move to England to train at Dorney Lake for Britain’s summer Henley Royal Regatta. The trip, between…

Win on Lake Rotorua

Win on Lake Rotorua

Chairman of Blind Sailing New Zealand Dick Lancaster won a silver medal in a 25-foot yacht at the 2009 World Championships held on Lake Rotorua in March. Lancaster told CNN that sailing for the…

Top Spot for Teen

Top Spot for Teen

Oakura surf champion Paige Hareb, 18, has earned herself a spot on the professional $US1 million World Championship Tour, one of only 18 places for the world’s top female surfers. From the 2008 Reef…

Teen Bags Four Medals

Teen Bags Four Medals

Christchurch 15-year-old Sophie Pascoe – the youngest participant at the Beijing Paralympics – has won four medals: golds in the 200m individual medley, in the 1m breaststroke and 100m backstroke and a silver medal in the…

Hareb Catches Some Ricos

Hareb Catches Some Ricos

Taranaki surfer Paige Hareb, 18, the No. 2 ranked women’s junior professional (under-20) in the world, has won the Port Stevens Pro Junior Series Event in NSW. Hareb is having a good year with…

On Board for Gold

On Board for Gold

World champion Auckland windsurfer Tom Ashley, 24, sailed past his rivals, to claim first place in the men’s competition and a gold medal, the third won by the New Zealand Olympic contingent in Beijing….

Medal Haul in Beijing

Medal Haul in Beijing

Hastings twins Caroline and Georgina Evers-Swindell took gold medals in the double skulls beating their German rivals by 0.01 sec, the win on the same day Mahe Drysdale won a bronze in the single skulls and…

Record Without Air

Record Without Air

Wellington architect Kathryn McPhee, 29, has broken a freediving world record by two metres swimming underwater without breath for 151 metres, in a time of 2mins 48sec. Freediving, also known as breath-hold or apnoea…

Against the Wind

Against the Wind

Three-time world champion windsurfer Barbara Kendall is off to Beijing and her fifth Olympics. Conditions at the sailing venue in Qingdao would be difficult, Kendall said. “It’s just not a windy spot. If we’re…

Coolest Boat in the World

Coolest Boat in the World

New Zealand Earthrace skipper Pete Bethune has circumnavigated the globe in record-breaking time, 11 minutes short of 61 days in a £3 million 24m tri-hull wavepiercer powered on cooking oil. “I am elated,” Bethune…

For the Good of All

For the Good of All

Lake Karapiro in Cambridge is the headquarters for Rowing New Zealand’s centralized training programme which has produced “one of the strongest rowing squads in the world” on a budget of just four million dollars….

Holding His Breath

Holding His Breath

Dispensing with weights, ropes and flippers, New Zealander William Trubridge descended to 82 metres and broke the world record for constant weight diving without fins. Now living and working in the Bahamas, Trubridge…

Budding Swim Star

Budding Swim Star

Te Haumi Maxwell, 13, has been hailed as the “best male swimming prospect since Ian Thorpe” in the Australian press. Maxwell was born in NZ but raised in Australia, and is due to become…

Taranaki’s Silver Surfer

Taranaki’s Silver Surfer

Taranaki teenager Paige Hareb has stunned the international surfing world by reaching the final of the Billabong World Pro Junior in Sydney. Hareb, 17, finished in second place behind Australian favourite Sally Fitzgibbons,…

Round Two Record Attempt

Round Two Record Attempt

NZ speedboat Earthrace will begin its second attempt to break the world circumnavigation record in March 2008. Earthrace is using the record attempt to raise awareness for environmentally friendly biofuel. “The record is just a small…

High Seas Drama

High Seas Drama

A book detailing the tumultuous Earthrace mission to date has been published in time for Christmas. First Time Around by Scott Fratcher follows the state-of-the-art boat on its mission to promote biodiesel fuel…

Fifth Olympics for Kendall

Fifth Olympics for Kendall

NZ sporting icon Barbara Kendall has earned her fifth Olympic Games spot. Kendall described her early selection for Beijing 2008 as “awesome” after it was announced at the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron. Kendall has already won…

Protest Heard Around the World

Protest Heard Around the World

NZ-born pro surfer Dave “Rasta” Rastovich led an international protest over Japan’s commercial slaughter of dolphins in November, gaining significant media coverage for his cause. Rastovich, a free surfer for Billabong, is a co-founder of the charity…

Two-time World Record Holder

Two-time World Record Holder

Wellington freediver Dave Mullins has set a new world record by swimming 244m underwater in a single breath. The 26-year-old broke his own record of two days prior by 18m during an international…

Rowing Champs Bode Well for Beijing

Rowing Champs Bode Well for Beijing

NZ athletes continue to dominate world rowing, with another impressive medal haul at this year’s world championships in Munich, Germany. Single sculler Mahe Drysdale, lightweight sculler Duncan Grant and the men’s four of…

Surf Up-and-comer

Surf Up-and-comer

Oakura teen Paige Hareb has been ranked fourth in the world in women’s under-18 surfing since the junior world championships in May. The 17-year-old was also the first New Zealander ever to compete…

Precious Metal

Precious Metal

NZ athletes won four gold, two silver and a bronze medal at last week’s rowing world championships in Lucerne, Switzerland. Gold medals were won by Mahe Drysdale (single scull), Georgina and Caroline Evers-Swindell…

Diving’s Best Kept Secret

Diving’s Best Kept Secret

Jacques Cousteau named the Poor Knights Islands one of the world’s top ten dive sites and Australian travel writer Nigel Marsh agrees. Located 24km off the coastline of Tutukaka, 200km north of Auckland, the Poor Knights…

Surfing the Menu in NZ

Surfing the Menu in NZ

NZ chef Mark Gardner will co-present the fourth season of popular cooking show Surfing the Menu, with London-based Australian Ben O’Donoghue. Gardner, 29, replaces O’Donoghue’s previous co-presenter, Australian Curtis Stone. The fourth season comprises…

More Gold for Kendall

More Gold for Kendall

NZ sporting legend Barbara Kendall is back in the spotlight after winning the women’s RS:X windsurfing event at the Princess Sofia Trophy regatta in Palma, Spain. The three-time Olympic medallist was also named the overall Princess…

Surf Secrets Revealed

Surf Secrets Revealed

Artificial Surf Reefs (ASR) co-founder Kerry Black has been profiled by CNN. Black, a former Waikato University professor, has spent the last few years perfecting the world’s first fully adjustable computer-controlled reef. He expects the technology to…

Mason Wins at Raglan

Mason Wins at Raglan

NZ surfer Airini Mason has scored her second Billabong Pro Junior Series title for 2007 by winning the girls’ division of the $13,000 Raglan leg. The 18-year-old beat pre-event ratings leader Sally Fitzgibbons (Gerroa,…

Sailing Event a “Kiwi Blackwash”

Sailing Event a “Kiwi Blackwash”

This year’s 420 World Championships have been described as a “Kiwi blackwash” after NZ sailors took out all podium positions in both the Open and Women’s events. Carl Evans and Peter Burling, Simon…

Holland Ahoy

Holland Ahoy

New Zealander Ron Holland is one of the world’s top naval architects. Based in the small Irish sailing port of Kinsale, his latest project is designing and building a 190-foot, $50 million superyacht Ethereal for Sun…

Earthrace Is On

Earthrace Is On

Kiwi Peter Bethune is now part way through a 30-city world tour aboard Earthrace, his unique biodiesel-fuelled powerboat. Since leaving NZ, Earthrace has visited Samoa, Vancouver, Portland, Seattle, Hawaii and San Francisco on its mission to promote…

Race with a Difference

Race with a Difference

February 22 saw the official launch of Earthrace, a 100% biodiesel fuelled boat aiming to set a new world record for circumnavigating the globe. The brainchild of Pete Bethune, Earthrace is a charitable foundation promoting the…

World to Come to Waikato?

World to Come to Waikato?

NZ has officially placed its bid to host the 2010 world rowing championships at Lake Karapiro in Waikato. “It’s our turn,” says RNZ chief executive Craig Ross. “NZ rowing has never been…

Gold Rush

Gold Rush

NZ won a staggering four gold medals at the world rowing championships in Kaizu, Japan. The unbeatable Evers-Swindell twins (Georgina and Caroline) won the women’s double sculls, Nathan Twaddle and George Bridgewater the men’s pairs, Nicky Coles…

Wave Watching

Wave Watching

The Surfer’s Path features top New Zealand surf spots in its 50th edition. In a gallery of images titled “Aotearoa Light Play”, one of surf photography’s greats Aaron Chang and rapidly rising star Brian Nevins captured…

46 South

46 South

New Zealand surfing photographer Paul Kennedy plunges into the Deep South to an emerging big-wave scene. “In New Zealand, size comes at a price. The trade-off for being the only part of the country…

Airini Surfs Up Rankings

Airini Surfs Up Rankings

Gisborne’s Airini Mason scored the highest ever placing by a New Zealand female surfer at an international event, finishing third at the Billabong Girls’ Easter Surf Fest in Queensland, Australia. Mason is now ranked 69th on the…

Coutts’ Cup Runneth Over

Coutts’ Cup Runneth Over

Russell Coutts beat American Ed Baird and Australian Peter Gilmour to win the US$30,000 King Edward VII Gold Cup. He now heads the leaderboard of the 2004-05 Swedish Match Tour championship after three of eight races. The…

Champs on Surf and Turf

Champs on Surf and Turf

NZ finished second overall in the world lifesaving championships at Viareggio, Italy, behind Australia and ahead of South Africa. The Kiwis won 17 medals in total, including gold in the men’s beach flags event (Morgan Foster), gold in…

One to Watch

One to Watch

Kiwi boardsailor David Robertson (18) won gold at the Mistral Youth World Championships in Nessebar, Bulgaria. Team-mate Anna Eason finished fifth in the women’s event. Robertson placed first at last year’s National Youth Champs, sixth in the…

Money Makes the Cup Go Around

Money Makes the Cup Go Around

Alinghi syndicate head Ernesto Bertarelli has provided Team NZ a multimillion dollar “no-strings” loan to ensure their presence at the 2007 America’s Cup. “In view, the regatta would lose some of its appeal without us,” said…

Living Legend

Living Legend

Guardian film writer Diana Dobson visits Whangara, home of the Ngati Konohi people and inspiration behind Witi Ihimaera’s Whale Rider. Rather than touring the location made famous by Niki Caro’s film adaptation, Dobson focuses on the local…

Silver Bullet

Silver Bullet

Kiwi Jo Aleh won silver at the ISAF World Youth Championships in Poland, finishing second in the Laser Radial class. “I’m stoked!” she said in Scoop. “It was a hard regatta with such different conditions, it’s been tricky sailing…

“Crazy Kiwi” Charges Hard

“Crazy Kiwi” Charges Hard

Christchurch surfer Doug Young won the ‘Deep Throat’ award at the 2004 Red Bull Big Wave event in South Africa. The ‘Deep Throat’ prize goes to the “hardest charger” – the surfer who braves the biggest, messiest waves without…

Back on Track for 2007

Back on Track for 2007

Team NZ has finally announced its challenge for the 2007 America’s Cup in Valencia, Spain, thanks to a multimillion dollar sponsorship deal from Dubai-based Emirates Airlines. The syndicate has missed two previous confirmation dates due to lack…

The World Breaks left to Raglan

The World Breaks left to Raglan

The final of the 2003 Oxbo World Longboard Championships was held near Raglan, November 6-16. The prestigious US$50,000 event saw top competitors from the US, Australia, Brazil, South Africa and Hawaii surf Manu Bay’s famed left-hand…

Twin Engined Sculls

Twin Engined Sculls

Caroline and Georgina Evers-Swindell received the International Rowing Federation’s Female Rower or Crew of the Year Award at the annual FISA Coaches Conference in Athens this month. The twins won their second consecutive world championships title in…

Ocean Masters

Ocean Masters

Team NZ/Hawaii won the 52nd annual Hawaii Modular Space Molokai Hoe on October 12 by almost 5 minutes. The 41 mile race is considered the world championship of long-distance outrigger canoeing. Team NZ/Hawaii comprises four Kiwis (Rob…