After successfully wrestling the title of Interstate Champions back from fierce rivals Queensland in 2018, the NSW team had plenty of reasons to smile after defending their crown on home turf at Sydney’s Newport Beach on Thursday.
In a display of skill and tenacity across a broad range of surf sport events, the home team proved too strong in the overall standings finishing the competition on 289 points well clear of both Queensland (259) and the third placed West Australians (168).
Pleasingly for the NSW side they were able to soar to the summit in both the Youth and Open categories on the back of not only some outstanding individual results but also great success in the relays in which they were able to finish in the top two in every event.
There were a number of key performances on the day from NSW competitors with Jay Furniss, Emily Doyle, and Jackson Borg making key contributions on the water, and Sam Zustovich and Blake Drysdale shining on the sand.
It was, however, a team effort with every member of the squad contributing to the overall victory.
“The NSW Interstate team this year is awesome as we’ve got a really good mix of debutants and athletes who have been in the team 3-5 times before,” said Head Coach Jimmy Walker.
“We’ve kept it very similar to the winning formula we had last year with a camp in October/November with an extended squad who will be pushing for places over the coming years to introduce them to the team culture as we believe it is important to have a good culture.”
Umina’s Jemma Smith who just a few short years ago was a youth competitor and is rapidly becoming one of the more experienced heads in the squad said the Interstate competition is something that every athlete looks forward to throughout the season.
“It’s always exciting to be able to come down to the Interstate Championships as it’s a great indication to see how you are faring against some of the best athletes in the country,” said Smith.
“To me it’s a huge honour to represent NSW as you are not only representing your teammates, your club mates, but the entire state and it’s a great honour and something that I always look forward to doing throughout the season.
“We’ve got a really strong youth team and it’s great that the youth team gets to come up and race us in the opens while it was also exciting the Youth Pathway Cup team raced alongside us at the same beach for the first time as it really adds to the event,” she said.
After being invited to send an Open Team to the 2018 event in South Australia, this year NSW Country were able to field a full squad for the first time.
Despite finishing in 5th spot (158 point) there were a number of very encouraging results produced by Country team competitors.
“We’ve had the Trans-Tasman Series so we’ve been together for a long period and then the new guys coming in are all locals and know each other,” said Head Coach Scott McCartney.
“The best part of our team is they all race for each other and when they do they achieve things they didn’t think was possible. The talent has always been there in Country NSW and I think will always be,” he said.
NSW 2019 Interstate Open Team
Alex Rampoldi (North Cronulla SLSC), Chloe Mannix-Power (Cronulla SLSC), Naomi Scott (Manly LSC), Jemma Smith (Umina SLSC), Lizzie Welborn (North Bondi SLSC), Madison Spencer (Newport SLSC), Jackson Borg (Newport SLSC), Max Brooks (Newport SLSC), Mitchell Trim (Newport SLSC), Dean Scarff (North Bondi SLSC), Jay Furniss (Manly LSC), & Blake Drysdale (Newport SLSC).
NSW 2019 Interstate Youth Team
Isabellah Walker (Cronulla SLSC), Madison Louw (Newport SLSC), Nicola Owen (Redhead SLSC), Emily Doyle (Newport SLSC), Leah Rampoldi (North Cronulla SLSC), Georgia Sinclair (Wanda SLSC), Sam Zustovich (Mollymook SLSC), Zach Morris (Newport SLSC), Noah Havard (North Bondi SLSC), Hugh McAlpine (Newport SLSC), Jamee Smith (Wanda SLSC), & Bailey Johns (Avoca Beach SLSC).
Team Management
Lead Coach - Jim Walker (North Bondi SLSC), Assistant Coaches - Scott Thomson (North Bondi SLSC), Daniel Robberds (Mollymook SLSC), Team Managers - Stephen Marley (Catherine Hill Bay SLSC) & Greg Pierce (Wanda SLSC)
2019 NSW Country Interstate Team
Youth Division
- Anthea Warne (Cudgen Headland SLSC)
- Paige Leishman – (Cudgen Headland SLSC)
- Hayley Smith – (Cudgen Headland SLSC)
- Claudia Crawford – (Cudgen Headland SLSC)
- Maisie Miller – (Lennox Head-Alstonville SLSC)
- Cahrizma MacDonald-Cass (Cabarita Beach SLSC)
- Nathan Mackenzie – (Lennox Head-Alstonville SLSC)
- Joseph Warne – (Cudgen Headland SLSC)
- Finn Askew – (Tacking Point SLSC)
- Hugh Stewart – (Wauchope-Bonny Hills SLSC)
- Will Jones – (Byron Bay SLSC)
- Liam Worling – (Cudgen Headland SLSC)
Open Division
- Jordan White – (Warilla Barrack-Point SLSC)
- Maddie Bakker – (Warilla Barrack-Point SLSC)
- Sofie Boyd – (Cudgen Headland SLSC)
- Chloe Jones – (Cudgen Headland SLSC)
- Mahli Borham – (Cudgen Headland SLSC)
- Kate Lewis – (Mollymook SLSC)
- Luke Chaffer – (Cudgen Headland SLSC)
- Angus MacPhail – (Cudgen Headland SLSC)
- Kai Onley – (Cudgen Headland SLSC)
- Bailey Copeland – (Cudgen Headland SLSC)
- Brock Scrivener – (Mollymook SLSC)
- Jayden Allen – (Warilla Barrack-Point SLSC)
- Head Coach - Scott McCartney