Excitement is building as the culmination of the 2026 NSW Surf Life Saving Age Championships draws nearer, with athletes shaping the finals package through a host of individual events on Day 3 of the carnival.
A stinking hot Saturday greeted competitors at Blacksmiths Beach in the Lake Macquarie region of NSW today, where most races lay the foundation for finals day and only some medals were awarded.
Two of those came at the very start of the day, where hometown club, Swansea Belmont SLSC and Wanda SLSC won the highly anticipated All Age Board and Beach Relays.
Each relay sees a single competitor from U9s through to U14s account for one leg of a six-leg race, with Chace Harrison, Liam Blair, Indi Hoetzer, Xanthe Murrell, Oceah Cousins and Kai Williams getting a huge cheer from the local faithful when Kai crossed the line.
Mia Apps, Denver Turner, Imaan Williams, Thomas Round, Sebastian Edwards, and final runner, Callum Byrne then brought the heat on the sprint track, edging out strong runners from Avoca Beach SLSC and North Bondi SLSC to claim the gold.
Still on the track, North Bondi quickly forgot all about the narrow defeat when Somerset Elle Dovey and Sage Somerville finished first and second in the U11 Female Sprint. For Coogee SLSC, Marnie Laurence won the U14 Female Sprint. For Marnie, she has now won every Female Sprint since U9s at State.
Carlo Tallarida from Wollongong City SLSC won the U12 Male Sprint, and North Curl Curl SLSC’s Bennett Crouch won the U13 Male Sprint.
Shelly Beach SLSC from the NSW Central Coast won the U13 Female Beach Relay, on the back of strong runs from Imogen Hyslop, Jade Zalbergs, Ella Kearney and Brodie Hirst, while Cronulla SLSC’s Leonardo Placuzzi, Xavier Rivera, Dexter Kaing and Edward Whitton won the U11 Male Relay.
In the water, Swim Teams was the only event to run through to finals, with wins to Sadie Martin, Olive Morriss, Felicity Jones and Matilda Harvey (Avoca Beach U14 Female) and Reed Batinovic, Clarence Dougherty, Leo Dean and Ziggy O’Brien (Yamba SLSC U13 Male) among the highlights.
The Age Championships continues tomorrow with the finals of the individual events, as well as the Cameron Relays and Beach Flags.
Saturday 21 February 2026