Three members of the Balclutha volunteer brigade went to compete in the specialised, emergency service sports in Darfield, Canterbury.
Konrad Michie, Taine Michie and Nathan Davey were joined by Terry Michie who attended as a referee.
"The competition has two-person and four-person categories," team spokesman Konrad Michie said.
"Both categories have nine events throughout the day and if you have three or five people in your team, each competitor is required to participate in a minimum of four runs across the day.
"The Draw for Places is one of our best events and it’s possibly the hardest, as it’s the only one where you must stick 100% to the rules."
Before this event, competitors stand on the line and draw a random number which indicates what their tasks for the run will be.
The orders must be memorised — with little time to think — for runs which include connecting water from hydrant to vehicle, running out hose and activating systems to shoot a target with high pressure flow.
All of this must be done while following each rule in detail to demonstrate disciplined procedure as well as hands-on firefighting skills.
"This year’s South Island competition wasn’t our best performance," Mr Michie said.
"In the Draw for Places, we got a 30-second penalty which pushed our fourth place time back to ninth."
He said waterways competitions motivated practice and sharpening of basic firefighting skills, which in turn made operatives more confident and faster in real world situations.
"We are proud to represent Balclutha [and] try to train once a week throughout the season, starting in November and through to March."
Building on their South Island competition experience, the Balclutha team went on to place third in the Otago Southland provincial waterways competition in Wyndham last weekend, and are training for the national waterways competition, to be held in Mataura on February 21-22.
