Despite the frustration of missing the podium for the second straight year surf lifesavers from across the Central Coast still recorded a number of great performances at the 2018 Interbranch Championships.


Having spent much of the last decade among the top-three finishers at the annual representative carnival, the Central Coast team travelled to Black Head on the state’s Lower North Coast full of optimism.



The Central Coast team ultimately finished in fourth spot on the table with 1000 points trailing fierce rivals Hunter by a margin of just 55.



One of the highlights for the team was the win in the Open Male Taplin.



Natalia Drobot (Avoca Beach) – U14 Female Board Race and Ryle Green (U15 Male Board Race) were among those to earn gold medals on the water, while Bailey Johns (Open Male Ski) and Rachelle King (Open Female Ski) performed strongly to take third place in what was a very competitive field.



Open Male Surf Race and Surf Teams also went to Central Coast, with James Koch and Bailey Johns setting the pace for others to follow. Lachlan Braddish (Umina) came across the line first in the Youth Ironman.



Emma Duggan (North Avoca U12s) announced herself as one to watch in her first attempt at representative level, while Cooper Hobbs (Copacabana) showed plenty of speed to finish second in the U12 Beach Sprint. The Central Coast beach team followed up with a win in the junior Beach Relay.



Noah Nakagawa (Wamberal) was first in the U13 Beach Sprint and also impressing on the sand was Terrigal’s Emelyn Wheeler who performed incredibly well to take out the U14 Female Beach Sprint/Beach Flag double.



“I had a pretty slow start and I really had to work hard to catch up and then beat them. The plan was just to go out as hard as I could and get the points for my team,” said Wheeler.



The ambitious athlete is keen to build on her performance in the short term.



“My goal is to keep working towards winning at Aussies in Sprints or Flags; both if I can and that’s definitely an aim,” she said.



With Interbranch now behind them the Central Coast competitors can now focus on local races before the NSW Championships just up the road at Swansea Belmont (Blacksmiths Beach) next March.



Overall Pointscore




  • Sydney Northern Beaches 1198 

  • Sydney 1185

  • Hunter 1055

  • Central Coast 1000

  • Far North Coast 834

  • Illawarra 722

  • South Coast 675

  • Mid North Coast 545

  • North Coast 467

  • Far South Coast 311

  • Lower North Coast 267



Wednesday 12 December



 


Back to list