ELOUERA Surf Life Saving Club’s Dane Farrell will switch to longer distances for the rest of the season.
After finishing seventh in four hours and 33 minutes in the elite men’s open division at the annual 2014 Coolangatta Gold, Farrell said he would not pursue the short-course program.
William Budd of North Cronulla Surf Life Saving Club was 13th at Cooloongatta, completing the race in 4:44:51.
Farrell, a stonemason of Caringbah, is chiselling away at a change for his future competitions.
‘‘I had a bit of a tough day at Cooloongatta,’’ Farrell said.
‘‘But I am now focusing on the longer races.’’
Farrell said his next event was the inaugural New Zealand Hydrothon on January 11. .
Sportwell in partnership with Auckland’s Mairangi Bay Surf Lifesaving Club is staging the event.
Hydrothon races combine the triathlon model with the growth of ocean kayaks paddling.
Competitors swim, ski paddle and run.
Farrell said he started in the surf life saving club movement when he was 12.
‘‘I have been around the sport for a while,’’ he said.
