Ocean Grove will field a young, but hopeful, 59-athlete team at Life Saving Victoria’s Senior Championships this weekend.
Ocean Grove will compete back on ‘home soil’ starting on Friday February 24 and finish on Sunday afternoon, with head coach Sonia Kinsey hoping the team is prepared.
“We are looking to get some strong results on the beach and in the water as we don’t have R&R teams or race boats anymore,” she said.
“We’ve got some older members coming back, some who haven’t raced since the last Vic titles and we are hoping they will be there to give some guidance to our juniors in and around the water. It is great that they have made themselves available to help out.
“Just for that leadership on the beach. The majority of our points will come from the young kids, some of them racing up in the older age groups as well as their own and I am very proud of them and what they will aim to do for the team. Although we have a few stand out athletes, and they will show up over the weekend, the group focuses very much on being part of the team and helping each other out on the day.
“For a large number of young kids this will be their first senior state titles. Some have come up from Nippers this season into under 14, other older athletes have been training twice a day most days of the week since the start of June. They deserve some good results.
“Members of the public have no idea what some of these guys do during the week to help their performance on the day. They combine this with school and part time work, they do a great job and usually with a smile.”
Kinsey said predicted conditions might not favour teams that prefer strong surf.
Small surf conditions are forecast for Friday and Saturday, which Kinsey said might favour those that do a lot of training in the flat, such as the bay clubs.
“My guys do prefer to do the majority of training in the surf, with a bit of fun attached but that is okay, it has to be about the fun at times,” she said.
“There are a large number of big clubs and great athletes coming for the weekend, such as Warrnambool, who are always very strong.
“They are a little of an unknown because they don’t always attend all of the carnivals as a full team because they have to travel such a long distance. They will be prepared, their coach Steve Kerr is a master at getting his team up and about.
“Torquay are always very strong as a club at the Vics and are always up there as well.”
Kinsey said Anglesea and Jan Juc had improved over the last 12 months and the Melbourne clubs, such as Mentone and Point Leo also have a large number of very good athletes.
LSV’s Senior Championships are at Ocean Grove main beach from February 24 to 26.
To follow live results, go to sportapp-waves.lsv.com.au/public_results/358
