Bay Harbour: September 26, 2018

PAGE 14 Wednesday September 26 2018
BAY HARBOUR
Latest Christchurch news at www.star.kiwi
Ironman ready to take
on the world in Hawaii
SPORTS
ASPIRATIONS: Sumner will be looking to emulate the success
of their 2016/2017 senior cricket side when the new season
starts next month.
Sumner aims for strong
start to cricket season
• By Matt Salmons
AFTER A LESS than stellar
finish to last season, Sumner’s
senior cricket team is ready and
equipped to recapture their
former glory.
Club captain and coach Dan
Vann said inconsistency and the
loss of their feeder
team from division
three had impacted
their success last year.
“We did alright, we
got third overall. But
we’d won at least half
of the trophies over the
three years before last.”
Vann said the club
have a list of goals to
achieve this season,
which starts on the
first weekend of next
month,
“At least to win one of the
three cups – either the one-day,
two-day or overall. And to
develop the young guys we’ve
got, continue our successes from
previous years and possibly get
our second team into a higher
grade,” he said.
The club also hopes to start
a women’s team and teams to
play in the grades under division
three.
To achieve those goals, Vann
said the club have “recruited
well”, reinstated their feeder team
and will look at increasing the
number of training sessions each
week.
Dan Vann
The club have offered a
scholarship programme this year
to attract the young blood needed
to secure their future.
Three young players were
selected in the end – spinning
all-rounder Angus Hooper, and
skilled opening bowlers Tyler
Walker and Nawid Mohammady.
For the scholarship
players, Vann said
the club will waive
its fees, provide extra
professional training and
some gear, as well as get
the players in touch with
agents for English teams.
He said they had also
attracted two top-order
English batsmen in Tom
McGeorge and Tom
Davies.
The upcoming season
will have a different
dynamic than the past, Vann
said. It will be the first time
metro clubs would be merged
at the championship and
premiership levels.
“It will be good to play against
some different players and at
some different grounds,” Vann
said.
This season will be the first
with new club president Ross
Gunn at the helm after long-time
president Ray Steele stood down
from the role last month.
The club will also start
the season with a new pitch
after members re-laid it this
month.
• By Matt Salmons
MIKE PHILLIPS is ready for
his biggest challenge yet – the
Ironman World Championships
in Hawaii.
The Mt Pleasant athlete left on
Sunday to allow himself three
weeks to acclimatise and scout
the track ahead of the October
13 event. He qualified for the
championships after taking
home silver at Ironman Barcelona
in October, his first ever
ironman event.
He finished the 3.8km swim,
180km cycle and 42km run at
Barcelona in 7hr 52min 50sec,
making him the second fastest
Kiwi ironman ever.
However, the Hawaii course
looks “brutal”, Phillips said.
It includes an ocean swim and
a coastal cycle track against severe
wind and baking sunshine
before finishing with a run
through a lava field.
“Apparently there’s lava on
either side of the track. You’ve
got to experience it to know
what it’s like.”
He said he believes he will be
able to finish in the top 10 if he
has a good day.
“It would be cool to have a
podium finish, but in your first
year it’s probably a bit hard.”
Phillips has spent the last
two years as a professional
triathlete after leaving his job as
a structural engineer to pursue
the sport.
“I’m not sure how long the
body will hold out so I’ll make
the most of it.”
As a professional, Phillips
has competed in more than 10
events each year, most of them
overseas, with prize money providing
enough income to keep
him going.
The transient lifestyle could
be “a bit of a tax”, he said. But he
formed a group of friends who
he regularly competes against.
“You can actually make some
quite good friendships at the
GRUELLING: Mike Phillips is in Hawaii for the Ironman World
Championships on October 13.
events.” He trains for a
minimum of 30 hours every
week, swimming 25km,
running 100km and cycling
500km.
The transition from training
as an amateur to training as
a professional has not been
a”huge jump” as he now has
more time for recovery, he said.
“Even after a day at work
you’re pretty tired and I
found I was getting sick
more and injuring myself
more when I was training and
working.”
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