Paddles up: Marlborough kayakers The Boomtown Boys have completed the gruelling Yukon 1000 paddling race. Tim Macfarlane and Kieran Hickman finished the race in joint eighth position, covering the 1000 mile (1600km)  journey  from Whitehorse in Canada to Dalton Highway Bridge in Alaska in seven days, six hours and 56 minutes. Kieran described it as “good fun, but really challenging … a wicked experience, I just loved it”. Kieran and Tim competed against an elite 30-strong field, which was chosen from around 2500 entries from all over the world.

Sam’s the man: Marlborough hockey player Sam Young has been named in the Under-18 South men’s team for the forthcoming U18 Queensland Series from December 15-20 at Kings College in Auckland. The South and North teams will take on each other as well as Queensland and The Mavericks in an event featuring some of New Zealand and Queensland’s best U18 talent.

Georgia at Games: Former Marlborough water polo player Georgia Reed is representing New Zealand at the World University Games in Germany. Georgia came through the Stadium 2000 swim school, played flipper ball, then represented Marlborough Girls’ College and the province with distinction soon after the sport’s inception in Marlborough.

Marty moves on: Martyn Vercoe, team manager of the Chiefs, will join head coach Clayton McMillan at Munster next season. The former Marlborough rep cricketer has worked as manager in a number of environments over the past 12 years. In addition to his current positions with the All Blacks XV and the Chiefs, he was also Team Manager with the New Zealand U20s from 2016 to 2022 and Tasman Mako from 2013 to 2020.

Tasman back on track: Back on track and back in the black. That was the positive message delivered at the Tasman Rugby Union’s recent annual general meeting. It was a very different picture when former chairman Wayne Young and his deputy Tony Healey came on to an interim board in February after considerable upheaval. The board has turned a predicted $400,000 budget blowout into a $70,000 surplus and is aiming to get to $100,000.

“We are really just tidying relationships with the community, stakeholders and sponsors, and have gone back to basics. That old saying, you don’t spend more than what you earn. We shouldn’t be accepting losses and gave very clear direction on what was acceptable and what was not. It is a reset and staff have really bought into it,” says Wayne.

Wayne and Tony will only stay on the board for another year. Tony has returned as an independent director and is joined by Nelson accountant Michael Parker and Motueka logger Mike Fraser. Riwaka businessman David Inch has also come on to the board, replacing Murchison’s Tony Peacock, who resigned recently.

More Mako men: The Tasman Mako men’s selectors have named another group of players in their ever-increasing squad to contest the Bunnings NPC which begins for them on August 3 in Tauranga. Added to the mix is last season’s Nelson College standout, first five Harry Inch. He joins a group of players who were on development contracts in2024 but are now fully contracted. They include the NZ under-20 trio of Cooper Roberts, Eli Oudenryn and Sione Mafi, plus Hunter Leppien, Johnny Lee and Brodie Robinson. A couple of exciting newcomers are former Queensland Reds and Western Force lock/flanker Lopeti Faifua, the Australian just 23-years-of-age, and 22-year-old hooker Tomasi Maka, who played for Moana Pasifika last season. Recently confirmed is former All Blacks centre/wing Leicester Fainga’anuku.

Woodbourne half: The 42nd annual Woodbourne Half Marathon will take place on Sunday, August 10 from 9am at the RNZAF Sports Fields at Woodbourne. 5km and 10km fun runs will take place on safe off road courses through the Pernod Ricard vineyards. The half marathon has three entry options – walk, hybrid run/walk or run. The course is on a mix of vineyard, gravel roads and quiet roads to the south of Renwick. Entries are available online at “Eventfinda Blenheim”, paper entries at Mitchell Sports in downtown Blenheim (cash only), and entries on the day at race HQ (additional $5 late entry fee applies – EFTPOS available). Any questions can be directed to the Woodbourne Half Marathon Facebook page, or by email to Mark at [email protected]

TFFRS Bio (Coastal Carolina)

Personal Bests

2025 Outdoors (At Coastal Carolina)

Finished seventh in the triple jump at the Sun Belt Conference Outdoor Championship (12.04 meters) … Fifth-place finish in the triple jump in the Charlotte Invitational (12.16 meters) … Back-to-back second-place finishes in the triple jump at the Alan Connie Shamrock Invitational (12.49 meters) and Myrtle Beach Collegiate Challenge (12.34 meters).

2025 Indoors (At Coastal Carolina)
Finished fourth in the triple jump at the Sun Belt Conference Indoor Championships (12.34 meters), the fourth-best mark in school history … Third-place finish in the triple jump at the Darius Dixon Memorial Invitational (12.29 meters) … Finished third in the triple jump at the Hokie Invitational (12.25 meters) … Second-place finish in the triple jump at the Clemson Opener (12.28 meters).

2024 Outdoors (At Coastal Carolina)

Finished seventh in the triple jump at the Sun Belt Conference Outdoor Championship (12.33 meters) … Mark of 12.62 meters in the triple jump at the East Coast Relays ranks fourth in program history … Collected second-place finishes in the triple jump at the Weems Baskin Invitational (11.91 meters), Alan Connie Shamrock Invitational (12.34 meters), and Myrtle Beach Collegiate Challenge (11.81 meters).

2024 Indoors (At Coastal Carolina)

Finished 10th in the triple jump at the Sun Belt Conference Indoor Championship (12.11 meters) … Back-to-back wins in the triple jump at the Carolina Challenge (12.02 meters) and Gamecock Opener (12.01 meters).

2023 Outdoors (At Coastal Carolina)

Competed in seven meets in the outdoor season for the Chanticleers … Recorded a 21st-place finish in the triple jump with a mark of 11.44 (1.6) meters at the 2023 Sun Belt Conference Outdoor Track & Field Championships … Finished third in the triple jump event with a mark of 11.49 (1.7) meters at the Myrtle Beach Collegiate Challenge … Also turned in a third-place finish in the triple jump with a distance of 11.70 meters at the Weems Baskin Relays … Placed ninth in the long jump event with a leap of 5.36 (-3.4) meters at the Weems Baskin Relays … Finished seventh in the triple jump event at the USC Open with a mark of 11.90 (0.8) meters … Also placed 25th in the long jump at the USC Open with a distance of 5.17 (-0.3) meters … Turned in a personal-best mark of 11.91 (1.6) meters in the triple jump at the UF Tom Jones Memorial Invitational, placing 17th overall … Recorded marks of 11.76 (1.0) meters in the triple jump and 4.89 (0.2) meters in the long jump at the UNF East Coast Relays … Posted a mark of 4.91 (0.4) meters in the long jump at the Alan Connie Shamrock Invitational … Earned a spot on the President’s List (4.0 GPA) for the 2023 spring semester.

2023 Indoors (At Coastal Carolina)

Competed in the triple jump and long jump events in five meets during the indoor season … Placed 15th in the triple jump event with a mark of 11.68 meters at the 2023 Sun Belt Conference Indoor Track & Field Championships … Also finished 30th in the long jump event at the conference championship meet with a distance of 5.28 meters … Recorded a third-place finish in the triple jump event with a mark of 11.36 meters in her collegiate debut at the Gamecock Opener … Finished fourth in the triple jump event with a mark of 11.05 meters at the Carolina Challenge … Turned in a distance of 4.96 meters in the long jump to finish 18th overall at the Carolina Challenge … Picked up a pair of top-25 place finishes at the Bob Pollock Invitational, placing 16th in the triple jump (11.14 meters) and 25th in the long jump (5.35 meters) … Finished 11th overall in the triple jump event with a distance of 11.51 meters at the Darius Dixon Memorial Invitational … Registered a mark of 5.23 meters in the long jump event at the Darius Dixon Memorial Invitational … Named to the Dean’s List (3.5 GPA or higher) for the 2022 fall semester.

High School

A four-year letterwinner in track & field at College Station High School … Competed in the long jump, triple jump, 400-meters, and was part of the 4×400-meter relay team … Was a three-time team captain … Ranked as high as No. 24 nationally in the triple jump by MaxPreps in 2021 … Was the 2022 district champion in the triple jump as a senior … Was the 2021 area champion in the triple jump as a junior … Set the school record in the triple jump at 39′ 0.5 … A member of the National Honor Society … Earned All-Academic honors throughout her high school career … Has two younger siblings – twins, Malorie and Meriah.

Day 14 Schedule

Classification 7-8
Match 45. 16:00.

Classification 3-4
Match 47. 17:35.

Classification 5-6
Match 46. 20:00.

Classification 1-2
Match 48. 21:35.

Overview

In the classification 9-10 match, Romania came from 8-1 down at quarter time to force a penalty shootout at 16-16 but it could not survive with Japan finishing 20-19 in sudden death.

In the classification match for 11th position, Canada turned the tables on Brazil, winning 16-11 after losing the round encounter on penalty shootout.

Match Reports

Classification 9-10

Match 40, JAPAN 20 ROMANIA 19 in sudden-death penalty shootout. FT: 16-16. Pens: 4-3 (8-1, 4-3, 2-8, 2-4)

What an incredible match this was! For Japan to go 8-1 in the first quarter and then to allow Romania to win the rest of the match 15-8 and force a penalty shootout was truly remarkable by the Romanians. And then for the shootout to go to sudden death after the first rotation yielded two saves each was equally fantastic. A delight to watch.

The first quarter was like a tsunami with eight goals to one. That’s averaging every attack and the 4-1 score came before the four-minute mark. Yusuke Inaba plugged the first two for Japan; Daichi Ogihara had a pair, as well and Kiyomu Date scored three of the last four. Romania took a timeout at 4:20 but the Japanese responded with four goals. Centre forward Alexandru Gheorghe gained the first Romanian goal. In the second quarter, Romania came back into the fray and denied many Japanese chances. Francesco Iudean scored his 13th and 14^th goals of the tournament for 8-3 with Inaba picking up his third before Gheorghe repeated his first-quarter effort for 9-4. Three more Japanese goals came within a minute inside the last 1:40 before halftime, Inaba netting his fourth from a snappy six-metre shot and Date going on counter for his fourth.

Who would have thought that Romania would bring its A game in the third quarter, shooting five unanswered goals with more to come? That it did with Andrei Neamtu grabbing two. Japan called a timeout, gained an exclusion and Kenta Araki converted from the left post for 13-9. Levente Vancsik buried his shot and minutes later Inaba cherished a four-goal margin on counter. Neamtu and Vlad-Luca Georgescu, both on extra, narrowed the margin to two with two last-minute goals with the 12^th with four seconds on the clock.

The last quarter was a heart-stopper with traded goals from Andrei Tepelus in the first minute to Adachi at 16-14. Sebastian Oltean drilled from the top and Georgescu scored his most important goal to equalise on extra from the top right at 0:34. Japan had two shots covered and the shootout had been booked.

Japan started and missed its first two and Romania missed its second shot. The next three went in and Romania had its fourth shot saved meaning the match was tied at 18-18. The next two shots were successful, ending the rotation and sending the match into sudden death. Watanabe did what he couldn’t at the start, by scoring Japan’s 20^th goal and Georgescu had his shot blocked by goalkeeper Ren Sasano for the Japanese victory.

Match Heroes
Japan’s Inaba with five goals to finish with 23 in Singapore. Date collected four (12) while Watanabe’s one pushed him to 17. Captain Marius-Florin Tic stopped 14 shots for 60 in Singapore.

Turning Point
Japan’s 8-1 and then Romania’s relentless surge back to 16-16.

Stats Don’t Lie
Japan converted seven from 11 on extra and Romania a fantastic six from eight. There were two penalty goals for Japan and one for Romania. The teams stole the ball seven times each and Japan shot 38 to 34.

Bottom Line
Japan was 13^th last year and Romania 10^th in its first return since 2013 when it was 13^th. This year it will settle for 10^th. Japan was ninth in 2022 as well, a year after finishing 10^th at the home Olympic Games. It was eighth at this year’s World Cup, so is up there with the best. This was its third win here.

What He Said

Yusuke INABA (JPN) — Captain and Five Goals

On the close match:
“I have no idea how it became like that. We (conceded) a lot of goals in the third quarter and it was really a tough game, see-saw game. I don’t know, for us, it was a terrible game. We were leading by seven, eight goals, then they came back to tie and first we missed two penalties… it was wow, just wow.”

On what changed in the third quarter: 
“In the third quarter, they changed tactics. They put two centres every time and we got many exclusions than goals, so they were really smarter than us. In the last 11 seconds, we really wanted to score because we knew that if we went to penalties, we would have a lower possibility of winning. Their goalkeeper Marius-Florin (TIC) is really good, so in the last 11 seconds, everyone really wanted to score, but we couldn’t. But after these 11 seconds, I said to everyone ‘Just think about victory’, and then we won, so it’s OK.”

On Japan’s campaign: 
“We were really good here compared to the Paris Olympics. In Paris, when we played against Hungary, against Spain, we lost by 15, 14 goals, which is a lot. But this time, by five or six, so now, for sure, we are getting better. Step by step but it’s OK; we will continue to grow.”

Classification 11-12

Match 39, BRAZIL 11 CANADA 16 (3-1, 2-4, 1-5, 5-6)

Canada won the battle of the Americas, coming from 4-1 behind to win by five and back in the numbers after missing 2024 and finishing 12^th in 2023. These two teams met in the rounds and Brazil won 19-18 in penalty shootout on day six. Canada did not make that mistake twice. Head coach Pat Oaten is no stranger to international limelight coaching, leading the Canadian junior women’s team to the world crown at Calgary 2003. He also did a long stint with the senior women’s team and with Brazil women.

Brazil had the better of the first quarter at 3-1 with captain Gustavo Guimaraes with the first two goals — off the left-post position on cross and from deep right. Roko Pozaric replied for Canada on counter and Marcos Pedroso took it to 3-1 from centre forward, but about five metres out. Pedro Real gave Brazil a 4-1 advantage nearly three minutes into the second period and Nikos Gerakoudis replied, both from the same position at the top. Brazilian head coach Thiago Nacimento collected a yellow card. Guimaraes hit the penalty goal for a three-goal margin. Canada jumped back into the match with Jason O’Donnell from the top right. Aleksa Gardijan did not survive a VAR review for a violent action but Brazil could not convert the extra chance. Ali Oussadou converted a penalty foul and Reuel D’Souza brought up his 20^th goal from the top on extra for 5-5.

Canada’s dominance continued in the third period with captain Bogdan Djerkovic dragging one down off the right-post position on extra; Pozaric from the top left; D’Souza on penalty and then from the top right for 9-5. Lucas Farias broke the more-than-10-minute drought from deep right at 1:24. After a Brazilian challenge was rejected. D’Souza brought up goal number 23 from the penalty line and 10-6 at the final break.

O’Donnell grabbed his second with a cross-cage shot in the first minute of the final stanza. Goals were traded with D’Souza scoring a pair, including the first helicopter (360-degree) shot of the tournament off a six-metre free throw. Captain Djerkovic scored another from centre for 14-8; Luca Andrade scored twice for Brazil as his team’s leading scorer and Guimaraes finished all scoring with his fifth. On the other side, D’Souza converted a penalty for his seventh of the match in his first World Championships for eight years.

Match Heroes
Canada’s D’Souza, with seven goals, to make him the tournament’s leading scorer by far with 26. Guimaraes scored five goals for 12, one behind Andrade, who scored twice today. Joao Fernandes finished with 10 saves and an incredible 64 in Singapore.

Turning Point
Canada turning from 4-1 down and onwards to victory.

Stats Don’t Lie
Canada converted five from 12 on extra and Brazil four from eight. On penalties, Canada put away four and Brazil two. Canada made nine steals to three and shot a huge 41 to 29.

Bottom Line
Canada is now 11^th and Brazil up from 14^th in 2023.

What He Said

Reuel D’SOUZA (CAN) — Player of the Match

On the match: 
“I’m really proud of my team. This was a big goal of ours today, to come out and beat Brazil by any means. We knew it was going to be a dogfight and I’m just really proud of how we took it one possession at a time; we chipped away and ultimately we did what we wanted to do.”

On what changed after trailing in the first quarter: 
“We reminded ourselves what makes us a group. It’s our love for each other, love for the team, love for the country. That was the message, that was the motto. Chip away one possession at a time, play for Canada and play with heart. When push came to shove, we were the ones to bring the energy. A 9am game is not easy for anybody, even the best athletes in the world. We woke up today on a mission and we ultimately went out and did what we wanted to do.”

On scoring seven goals:
“This whole tournament, I’ve been telling myself that I just need to go out there and do what I’m capable of. I know what I can do and I just had to go out there and do it. For me, it’s not about scoring goals. It’s about helping my team win, about putting my team in the best position to win games. And I feel like if I can stay out of exclusion problems, stay in the water, I can contribute in a lot of ways, not just scoring goals. I’m very proud of what I did this week and I’m really proud of my team for our ability to recover from that first game and come back today.”

On Canada’s Singapore 2025 campaign: 
“There were a lot of ups and downs. There were some games that we wanted to perform better and today, we did what we wanted to do, so today was the up. I think there were a lot of downs, but this is what we need. We need these games, we want to play these difficult games, we want to get put in tough, uncomfortable experiences and positions. As far as preparation for Los Angeles 2028 goes, we’re going to have to beat Brazil and Argentina to go. That’s plain and simple, so the more times (we get) to play Brazil, the better. Getting to play them twice this week is great for us. We’re really happy to end on a good note before we see each other again in December for hopefully Division 2 of the World Cup.”

Spalding Water Polo Club has been nominated for a coveted national award.

Their name has been put forward for the Swim England Water Polo Club of the Year accolade.

The news has been hailed as a ‘massive and wonderful achievement’ for the club who meet at the Castle Sports Complex in Spalding and also train in the summer at the Bourne outdoor pool.

The annual awards bring the entirety of the aquatics community together to celebrate the individuals, groups and organisations for their outstanding contributions throughout the past 12 months.

In 2025, the awards will highlight achievements from clubs, coaches, teachers, volunteers, inclusion, health and much more – showcasing those that create great experiences across aquatics.

The Club of the Year awards are discipline-specific, highlighting the unique contributions of clubs across aquatics.

It highlights where clubs go above and beyond to create exceptional experiences both in and out of the water, placing their members at the heart of everything they do.

The ceremony will be held at the Great Hall at the University of Birmingham on Saturday, November 29.

The Spalding club play in the Hertfordshire League and took part in its tournament at Letchworth Lido.

Six matches would be played by each team, with a game lasting eight minutes.

Things would not be easy for Spalding as they had several players pull out at the last minute which meant they travelled with only eight players, little more than half a full squad, and no recognised goalkeeper.

Having agreed a rota for goalkeeping, captain Nathan Henfrey took the first game in goal against Dunstable.

Spalding were switched on from the start, keeping a solid defence and scoring twice through Adam Found and Sam Murray for a 2-0 opening game win.

The second game against host team Hertford saw Frazer McGruer in goal for Spalding.

Spalding scored first through Dan Leigh but Hertford were able to equalise.

Spalding were then able to capitalise on a turnover foul which allowed Henfrey to score the winning goal of the game in a 2-1 success.

The third game saw Spalding play Enfield where this time Leigh went in goal.

The game was even with both teams scoring twice, the two Spalding goals coming from Murray.

However, in the final minute, Spalding gave away a penalty allowing Enfield to take a 3-2 win.

Going into the fourth game against Cambridge, McGruer volunteered to take the remaining games in goal.

This brought about Spalding’s most dominant performance after a 4-1 victory with goals coming from Adam Found, Henfrey, Adam Gibbons and Murray.

Moving into the last few games, a couple of players volunteered from Hertford to boost Spalding’s substitute options.

However, the Spalding players were noticeably tiring against what would prove to be the toughest opponents of the night.

Bedford were able to beat Spalding 5-0 before Watford defeated them 5-1, Leigh getting the goal in the final game.

The Spalding players, including Lola Westrick and Paige Cheek, deserve great praise for putting in a tremendous amount of effort and working well as a team.

Spalding finished the night with three wins and three losses, putting them fourth out of the seven teams. Watford were the overall winners.

Rock Hill, S.C. — For the 12th time in program history, the Winthrop Volleyball team has garnered the distinction of American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Team Academic Award, sponsored by INTENT.

Volleyball programs that maintain a year-long grade-point average of at least 3.3 on a 4.0 scale are honored with the Team Academic Award, a feat which 1,450 collegiate and high school programs were able to achieve.

“It is very exciting to see that the record-setting, on-court successes during the 2024-25 season have extended to the classroom,” says AVCA CEO Jaime Gordon. “The fact that more programs earned the Team Academic Award than ever before is evidence of how committed our coaches are when it comes to helping their players reach their goals as both students and athletes.”

The Eagles registered a 3.65 GPA over the course of the 2024-25 academic year, with a record-setting performance of a 3.78 GPA in the Spring 2025 semester for the highest mark in program history. In the spring, every Eagle held a 3.0 GPA or higher with five perfect 4.0 marks, and nine athletes over a 3.5 GPA.

LINK TO AVCA RELEASE