Many years of hard work and focus on a singular goal came to a head at South West Rocks on Wednesday 15 July, where a strong NSW side ended a streak of Queensland dominance to triumph at the Sharkskin 2026 Australian IRB Interstate Championships.
NSW’s total of 60 points earned across the Open and U23 race categories was more than enough to help the sky blue caps to their first victory in nearly two decades – some 13 points ahead their rivals in maroon and a further eight points ahead of Victoria who placed third on the dias.
“I’m so proud of this team, this is another one to tick off my bucket list,” SLSNSW Director and Chair of Surf Sports, Don van Keimpema said.
“IRBs has been a bit of a passion project for me and to see this result after years of work, it’s outstanding and reflective of the effort put in.”
The win marked the start of a bumper four-day program for the Australian Championships, where NSW clubs showed their speed and skill against some of the best surf clubs in the country in the rubber ducks.
Highlights from the competition included the team of Josh Stephens and Nathan Illes bringing home gold for North Cronulla SLSC in the Open Male Rescue, and a series of strong finishes for Masters competitors.
Bondi SBLSC’s Kristy Smith and Nicole Krite were Masters Female Rescue champions, and later joined four clubmates to win the Masters Female Teams. Kiama Downs SLSC took out the Masters Male Teams, while Queenscliff SLSC’s David Callan and Shaun Sursok were quickest home in the Masters Male Rescue.
Caves Beach SLSC – the NSW champion club and eventual Masters Overall Point Score winners at Aussies – were backed up by many strong results, not least of which being gold for Nicole Murrell and Elisha Angel in the Masters Female Tube.
That particular race ended with a NSW-only podium, where a second Caves Beach team and Newport SLSC also finished amongst the medals.
The Hunter club managed to also finish third in the Open Overall Point Score.
NSW Open Team
Keelan Smith – Newport SLSC
Jack Hawkins – Nobbys SLSC
Connor Johansen – Nobbys SLSC
Will Shaddock – North Cronulla SLSC
Kai Jones – North Cronulla SLSC
Nickolas Singh – Newport SLSC
Koby Gardiner – Caves Beach SLSC
Xavier Byrnes – North Cronulla SLSC
Liam Smith – North Cronulla SLSC
Melisse Cooper – Newport SLSC
Kaitlyn Williams – South Maroubra SLSC
Victoria Coppen – Caves Beach SLSC
Makayla Gay – Caves Beach SLSC
Kaitlyn Byrnes – North Cronulla SLSC
Katlynn Coglan – North Cronulla SLSC
Lucy Green – North Cronulla SLSC
Elisa Garay – South Maroubra SLSC
Isabella Garay – South Maroubra SLSC
NSW U23 Team
Jacob Curcio – Newport SLSC
Luke Thornton – Newport SLSC
Bailey Meikle – Queenscliff SLSC
Henry Sole – Queenscliff SLSC
Leo Shaw – Queenscliff SLSC
Alexander Pate – Newport SLSC
Zach Van Dam – Newport SLSC
Bailey Green – Caves Beach SLSC
William Coppen – Caves Beach SLSC
Zach Mitchell – Caves Beach SLSC
Emilia Sachs – Queenscliff SLSC
Shae Harvey – Caves Beach SLSC
Hayley Walmsley – Caves Beach SLSC
Lily Hook – North Cronulla SLSC
Hannah Berman – North Cronulla SLSC
Ellie Halliday – Queenscliff SLSC
Jessica Way – Queenscliff SLSC
Gabriella Han – Queenscliff SLSC
Wednesday 22 July 2026