While many of the state’s surf sport stars were taking advantage of a rare off-season to recharge ahead of another busy summer campaign, Cudgen’s Anthea Warne wasn’t one of them.


The talented and athletic teenager has been splitting her time in the pool, canoeing, and numerous other sporting pursuits to an extremely high level through the dreary months of winter.



Anthea who a finalist in the Young Athlete of the Year category at last month’s NSW Awards of Excellence has enjoyed a very successful Pool Rescue Season.



At the NSW Championships she won the Open Female 200 Metres Obstacle Race in addition to the five medals (including four gold) in her own U17 Age Group.



Like many of her peers on the Far North Coast she thrives on challenging herself against the Queenslanders and took advantage of the much shorter travel time to secure six medals including a haul of five gold at their State Championships.



The medal haul continued in Adelaide at the National Titles where she added to impressive medal haul with six medals (one gold, three silver, and two bronze) in another mature display.



Her performances caught the eyes of the national selection panel and earlier in September she was named in the Australian Youth Lifesaving Team to travel to New Zealand for their Pool Rescue Championships later this year.



The air route across the Tasman is becoming as familiar to her as the Pacific Highway with this upcoming visit being her third tour to the Land of the Long White Cloud in a little more than a year.



Anthea is one of just two New South Wales athletes, and the lone female competitor to be picked in the squad which has been selected with an eye on the World Life Saving Championships to be staged in South Australian in 2018.



Her passport has also been getting a work out in recent months as she gains more experience in international competition.



She was selected to represent Australia at the Commonwealth Lifesaving Championships in Durban where she picked up 4 gold medals in championship events, and two bronzes in non-championship events.



Her canoeing career is also going from strength to strength and earlier this month she was in the Czech Republic with the Australian Olympic Hopefuls team as co-captain. These achievements are all the more impressive given that she only took up the sport a little more than a year ago.



Anthea Warne is a young athlete on the rise and her passion and appetite for success is something she clearly has in spades.



The sky is the limit for this young surf lifesaver.



 



Wednesday 20 September 2017