It’s been a highly successful season for the Freshwater Open Female R&R team that was capped off in style when they were crowned the Surf Sport Team of the Year at lifesaving’s night of nights in Sydney last weekend.
After years of dedicated training to the highly disciplined sport of R&R, the team conquered their personal Everest this season when they became the first team in the proud club’s history to win the Australian title.
For the team of Claire and Jayne Freakley, Lysa and Rebecca Kiely, Elizabeth Murphy and their coach Chris Tyrell it was a vindication of another outstanding season during which they also medalled at Branch and State level.
At the Branch Championships they were unstoppable on their way to gold, while at the NSW titles on Blacksmiths Beach they stood on the podium as bronze medallists.
How they came to be is quite a story containing plenty of perseverance and is nothing short of inspirational.
Originally coming together a decade ago as a group of Nipper mums who were at the club to support their children they decided they wanted to compete.
After much searching they found R&R competition quickly fell in love the sport and the core of the team has been together ever since.
While the team themselves didn’t expect to win award in what was a tough field their coach was never in any doubt.
“I had a gut feeling and expectation that they would be successful here tonight,” Chris Tyrell said shortly after the announcement.
“They are a very strong team who when they came together have achieved sensational results. Their commitment to training is simply outstanding and they deserve the rewards that come their way for all the hard work they have put in,” he said.
The 2018 SLSNSW Awards of Excellence are proudly supported by Port Authority of New South Wales with almost 400 of Surf Life Saving’s most outstanding lifesavers, athletes, educators, coaches, and administrators from around the state gathering at Dockside, Cockle Bay to celebrate the season that was.
For a full list of all the winners, and to see photographs from the night, please visit the SLSNSW Awards of Excellence Event Page or our social media channels
Wednesday 29 August 2018