News

A group of the state’s most talented surf sport athletes will be out to impress the selectors when they travel to Sydney for a development camp next weekend; the prize on offer? A trip to South Australia for the 2018 Interstate Championships.

Two New South Wales athletes will be getting some new stamps in their passports next month after they were announced as part of the Australian Life Saving Pool Rescue Team that will be travelling to Europe as preparations for next year’s World Championships continue to gather momentum.

Earlier this week, the NSW U18 Pool Rescue Development team returned from their foray across the Tasman with plenty of stories to tell and a renewed appreciation for the challenges of taking their sporting performances to the next level.

While their peers relaxed during the final weekend of the October school holidays, a group of the state’s most promising ocean competitors traded books for swimsuits at an intensive camp designed to improve their skills while giving them an early insight into the reality of life for an elite surf sport athlete.

After packing the essentials of swimmers, goggles, training equipment and passports, the NSW U18 Pool Rescue Development team even had room in their luggage for optimism as they gathered at Sydney International Airport on Wednesday for their flight to New Zealand.

Mother Nature didn’t always co-operate but that didn’t stop the 100 competitors who braved the surf at the NSW Board Riding Championships last weekend from making the most of the challenging conditions as they eyed off state glory.

The state’s top surf sport athletes continue to earn national recognition with six NSW based athletes named in the Australian team that will contest the International Surf Rescue Challenge later this year.

Lifesaving’s best surf board riders will swap patrol uniforms for wetsuits when they take to Birubi Point’s famous break for their shot at glory when the 2017 Surf Life Saving State Board Riding Championships get underway tomorrow.