After leading from the start, the Elouera SLSC juniors have taken out the 2018 NSW Age Surf Life Saving Championships at Swansea Belmont, breaking the eight year winning streak of the mighty Manly LSC.


It was a spectacular end to the three-day battle between more than 89 clubs throughout the state, with the southern Sydney club finishing just five points in front of Newport and local Hunter club Cooks Hill two points behind them.



It was extremely tight at the top of the pointscore with the result coming down to the final few races to decide the outcome. Newport mounted a mighty effort in the water on finals day to skyrocket from eighth place to second, narrowly missing out on the top billing.



At the trophy presentation after competition concluded, the ecstatic Elouera team loudly celebrated their first ever NSW Age title.



Elouera Junior Director Michael Randazzo could not be happier, saying their goal to win the Championships was set last year and the team pulled out all stops to make it happen.



”The standout for me was on Friday afternoon in the 1 km beach run where our girls came first, second, third and fifth which blew us away. We knew they were going to be strong but to get four in the top five was incredible.



“We are going to celebrate this year first and then work out the plan going forward, but no doubt the kids will be up there again next year, Swansea has been a good venue for us so we are looking forward to next year,” said Michael Randazzo.



Cooks Hill did one better than last year’s fourth place, however losing by just two points to the dominant Sydney Northern Beaches club Newport was a frustrating finish to a mighty effort from the Hunter powerhouse.



Cooks Hill Team Manager Michael Clancy said the kids had put in a huge effort and had done everything expected of them.



“The depth of talent we have at the moment across all the age groups is really what it comes down to,” he said.



In their final nippers year, the dominance of Joel Piper from Newport and Lily O’Sullivan from Cudgen Headland in the U14s was pronounced. Both athletes took the trifecta of Board, Swim and Iron titles and contributed to a heap of team events results for their clubs. Piper in fact ended up wearing seven gold medals around his neck and was backed up in the U13s by the Morris twins, Mitch and Jake and Bailey Clues in the key water events for Newport.



A far less prominent Sydney Northern Beaches club also put in a huge effort to sneak into sixth spot, with the team from Nth Curl Curl showing great strength, particularly in the U10 and U11 age groups.



Manly made its mark felt on day three of the event, with good results in the water, however it was not enough to catch the clubs at the top. Great performances were seen by Connor and Noah Maggs and Josh Gedz. In the end the club tied for fourth place with arch rivals Cronulla.



In local results, aside from the third placed Cooks Hill, the host club Swansea Belmont finished in ninth spot and the best performing Central Coast club was Avoca Beach in 12th.



The winner of the Country club pointscore was Cudgen Headland SLSC who finished in 13th position.



The State Championships continue on Wednesday 7 March when the Masters competitors come to town and the Open competition action happens over three days from Friday 9 March.



Proudly supported by Your local club and the Lake Macquarie City Council, the 2018 NSW Surf Life Saving Championships sees almost 7000 competitors from all over the state, joined by more than 500 volunteer officials and thousands of spectators and supporters, go for glory on the shores of beautiful Blacksmiths Beach.



 




  1. Elouera SLSC       179

  2. Newport SLSC    174

  3. Cooks Hill SLSC   172

  4. Cronulla SLSC     165

  5. Manly LSC           165

  6. Wanda SLSC 160

  7. North Curl Curl SLSC        159

  8. Coogee SLSC      149

  9. North Bondi SLSC             140

  10. Swansea Belmont SLSC   132

  11. South Maroubra SLSC      92



 



Sunday 4 March 2018


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