11 years of Newport SLSC dominance came to an end on Sunday 1 March as Wanda SLSC topped the overall club point score at the 2026 NSW Surf Life Saving Open Championships, proudly presented by Your local club.
It wasn’t without a fight – Newport closed what was a 150+ point lead coming into the final day to just over 60 with a slew of impressive individual and team event victories, but it wasn’t enough as the club from Sydney’s Bate Bay toppled their Northern neighbours.
It was a sea of gold and maroon caps crossing the finish line first on the final day of the carnival, with Newport taking out the final two events – the Open Male and Female Taplins.
It came after Olivia Clues made it four years unbeaten in the Female Ski, winning the U19 category comfortably and doing so again later in the Opens. Piper Harrison won the Open Female Iron, while Pipi Te Pania won the U19 Female Board.
For the males, Brayden Woodford won the Open Male Swim, and Charlie Verco went back-to-back in the Open Male Board race.
Wanda picked up wins along the way too; Dane Sutton was the U19 Male Iron winner, and Charlotte Bowmer won the U17 Female Swim.
For the Hunter/Central Coast clubs, there was a huge win for Jett Green from Avoca Beach SLSC in the Open Male Iron, Ashton Bone (Avoca Beach) won the U15 Male Iron, and Lexi Sutherland from Swansea Belmont SLSC was first across the finish line in the U17 Female Iron.
Kaitlyn Rees and Thomas Hall got a huge cheer from the home crowd when they won the U19 Mixed Double Ski, and Alex Walker brought the Swansea club another gold in the prestigious Saxon Bird Memorial U19 Male Swim.
The other memorial race, the Jacob Lollback Memorial U19 Male Board race was won by Dane Sutton from Wanda.
From the South Coast, Kobe Sims (Warilla Barrack Point SLSC) won the U17 Male Iron and second in the Swim and Board. Ivy Mison from Cudgen Headland SLSC on the Far North Coast won the U15 Female Board and Swim.
From the Illawarra, Darcy Stepanovski (Wollongong City SLSC) won the U15 Male Swim.
For the Surf Boat program, the Wanda weapons, swept by Nathan Spinner, beat out multi-time champions, Bulli SLSC for Open Male Gold, and the Jack Patison-swept Port Kembla Parasites won the Open Females.
Mona Vale Menace – the crew of Jasmine Sidall, Georgia Aiden, Abbey Pickering, Anabel Rulli, and James Meadows won the U19 Female category, and the Palm Beach Phins swept by Peter Spence won the U23 Males.
OPEN CHAMPIONSHIPS POINT SCORE TOP 10
Wanda – 515
Newport – 449
South Maroubra – 204
Manly – 203
Avoca Beach – 186
Cudgen Headland – 180
Swansea Belmont – 172
Cronulla – 143
Wollongong City – 123
North Bondi – 117
Sunday 1 March 2026