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The sun was shining as Mangawhai Heads Volunteer Surf Life Saving Club celebrated another successful Jackman Junior event last month.
The annual event saw 35 talented young athletes under 16 compete in a 7km paddle, starting at the Mangawhai Tavern and continuing along the estuary before finishing at the surf beach. Competitors also took on the challenge of paddling around Head Rock for the first time in the junior event.
The Jackman Junior is a shorter version of the Jackman Classic, a 12km open ocean paddle event named in honour of David Jackman, the first surfer to ride Sydney’s infamous Queenscliff Bombora in 1961. Jackman moved to New Zealand in 1963 and lived at Muriwai Beach until his death in 2014.
The junior event was created by Don Baxter and debuted in 2023 to promote water skills among the younger generation of future surf lifesavers.
“This Junior Jackman is a bit of fun for the younger generation,” Baxter says.
“Hopefully, getting a taste of the shorter event will encourage juniors and get them fired up to do the Jackman Classic when they are older.”
Although the juniors can check their finishing times when they arrive at the surf beach, no official times are recorded as the event is “more about self-development,” Baxter says.
