Ocean Grove’s small, but talented, surf lifesaving team achieved superb results at the Australian Surf Life Saving titles recently on the Sunshine Coast.
Coach Sonia Kinsey said large challenging surf conditions suited her young team.
The first part of the competition saw the under 13 to 15 age group race in individuals on the Saturday and teams events on the Sunday.
Georgie McIntyre was a stand out with a bronze medal in the under 15 girls board race.
“She was up the front of the field for the majority of the race and worked extremely hard to get third,” Kinsey said.
“Just making a final at national level is an excellent achievement but racing for a medal in an event such as the board race is right up there. It is very hard to win a medal in a board race as the event is so popular, with large numbers of competitors and quite a few races just to make the final.”
Under 13 male athlete Grayson Hyde made the surf race final in what was his first ‘Aussies’ coming 17th, along with under 15 girl Chelsea Hanks coming 18th.
McIntyre’s younger sister Indigo also made the under 13 board final in her last year on the smaller nipper boards.
“It was great to see a number of under 13 kids come up and race at their first Aussies against the best in the sport,” Kinsey said.
“It will give them all something to work towards for next season if they choose to come up again.” A number of other team members made semi-finals, just falling short on making a final a number of times.
Day two was team’s day and the under 15 male and female board and Cameron relay teams made their finals, with a number of the other age groups performing well in the challenging conditions against top competition in teams and board rescue events.
Masters began their racing on the Monday, with a small band of three – Mel Fitzgerald, Amenah McDonald and Bethan Knapp.
McDonald controlled her ski in tricky conditions to win her age group event.
Wednesday was the start of open competition, with four athletes travelling up for the five days of racing.
Senior athlete Abbie Hanks raced in the under 19 age group, with young under 15 athlete Toby Hallam stepping up an age to join Zeke Lambourne, and Angus Borschman in the under 17 team’s events, with Lambourne and Borschman racing in their own individuals throughout the week.
The best result was Borschman’s 7th in the 2km soft sand run against a top field of runners.
