By Justin Flynn
Lucy Conquit is officially Life Saving Victoria’s youth athlete of the year.
Lucy was announced as the winner at the Awards of Excellence presentation, where Ocean Grove Surf Life Saving Club (OGSLSC) picked up the overall points score trophy.
Ocean Grover Lucy didn’t realise she’d won the award until it was announced at the presentation.
“I only found out on the night,” she said.
“I knew I’d been nominated, but wasn’t expecting to win it so I was quite excited by it.”
Lucy mixed VCE studies with surf life saving last year and started a university degree in nursing this year.
But the workload was tough and she decided to defer her course and is currently doing a traineeship as a PE teacher at Sacred Heart College, where she was a student.
The 18-year-old described herself as “a pretty competitive person” and said that was mainly responsible for her accolade. She also said OGSLSC was a terrific place to be.
“It’s got a really good social side, we all get along so well and I love coming to training,” she said.
Lucy is undecided on whether she will head to NSW or Queensland, where many young surf life savers end up to further their careers.
At this stage she still plans on going back to her nursing degree, perhaps next year.
OGSLSC coach Sonia Kinsey said Lucy, the female captain of the team, was a pleasure to coach.
“To juggle Year 12 and train, Lucy proved that you can combine the two if you use your time wisely,” she said.
“She’s a good role model – I can always call on her to do one more event for me and that’s what makes Ocean Grove so special as a club.”
