The 2020 NSW Surf Life Saving Championships are off to a flying start at Swansea Belmont as more than 2700 Nippers from across the state hit the water and the sand at Blacksmiths Beach.
public://video_embed_field_thumbnails/youtube/37kype9QhIY.jpg
a:1:{s:7:"handler";s:7:"youtube";}
Proudly supported by Your local club, the 2020 Age Championships are where our future surf lifesavers put their training to the test across a range of disciplines, including board, swim, sprints and beach flags. Moving into the weekend racing, Day 2 features all the relays and is where competitors really work together as teams to fight for all-important points for their club.
With only a handful of events running through to finals on Friday, many clubs are just points apart and the large Sydney clubs are not surprisingly dominating early in the competition.
An amazing effort by kids from Swansea Belmont has put the host club in third place overall, led by Nth Cronulla with Wanda sitting in the top spot.
Beach Flags across all age groups were run and won on the sand with some outstanding results recorded.
The small South Coast club of Kiama Downs threw up a couple of little superstars with siblings Miller and Ginger Siasat taking gold and silver in the U11 Male and U9 Female Beach Flags.
Miller was backing up his win from last year and was circumspect about his awesome performance.
“I love just running with my friends. We all get better each time. I love competing with my friends and staying at the hotel and eating fish and chips,” said Miller.
A cool operator, Miller says while the rivalry is fierce, everyone is friends at the end of the day.
“We don’t really say hello, we just get there and start talking and then at the end we’re all friends again.”
It was smiles all round when Bondi surf club claimed its very first State Age gold medal. Krishna Inder was the last little guy standing in the U9 Beach Flags, after the rundown for the final flag against Ezekiel Hay from Fingal Head SLSC. The win was especially surprising for Krishna’s dad, who said his son just competes for fun. This was the youngster’s first State Champs.
The Swansea Belmont U10 Board Relay team used their local knowledge to storm home in their race with Cooks Hill hot on their heels.
An emotional and proud dad and coach, Matt Chalmers, said his twin sons Tom and Mitchell together with Levi Gibbs made an awesome team. The boys won the race last year but missed a buoy turn and were disqualified.
“They were winning the Board Relay by 80 metres but were disqualified, it was heartbreaking,” said Matt. “This year they led the whole way, how fantastic. They train hard, they work hard - they deserve the results they get. At Swansea we are lucky to have a lot of very experienced coaches who work with the kids.”
From the far north of the state, the Cudgen Headland U10 Board Relay team of Isabella Arghyros, Charli Mills and Jarrah Onley were super excited by their start to State Champs, winning the race in fine style.
“We just paddled our hearts out and Jarrah got nosed dived for it. We had no energy left. State Champs is super fun and you get used to all the different conditions. Everyone knows each other. It’s great,” said the girls.
Top 10 Overall Pointscore
- Wanda SLSC 58
- North Cronulla SLSC 55
- Swansea Belmont SLSC 38
- Coogee SLSC 36
- South Maroubra SLSC 35
- North Curl Curl SLSC 27
- Cronulla SLSC\ 25
- Freshwater SLSC 21
- Wamberal SLSC 19
- Mona Vale SLSC 17