Lifesavers from across Geelong and the Surf Coast have made their clubs proud at the 2022 Australian Lifesaving Championships, with plenty of silverware and strong results.
Geelong-Surf Coast athletes brought home five gold, two silver and three bronze medals across the water, lifesaving and surf boat disciplines, as well as making more than 40 Australian finals.
Anglesea Surf Life Saving Club was a triple threat in the rescue and resuscitation event, winning gold in the open female five person, open mixed five person and open mixed six person events.
Lorne SLSC’s Tristan Read also picked up a gold medal in the 45-49 year old men’s two kilometre ocean swim event.
Arno D’Andrea from Fairhaven SLSC was his club’s sole medallist at the championships and the region’s most successful beach athlete, claiming bronze in the under 17 male beach sprint.
Other medallists included Anglesea SLSC’s Sam Hum picking up silver in the 45-49 year old men’s two kilometre run, Jan Juc’s Benjamin Lund claiming bronze in the 35-39 year old men’s two kilometre ocean swim and Lorne SLSC’s Jude Enticott earning a bronze medal in the under 17 male shortboard surfing.
Sophie Thomas of Torquay SLSC was also successful, making two open finals in the board and surf disciplines, racing in a field filled with champions from the Ironwoman Series such as Georgia Miller, Harriet Brown and Lana Rogers.
The region also continued its history of a strong presence in the surf boat events, with masters women Lorne Again winning gold and masters men Jan Juc SLSC Rams taking silver in their respective divisions, and Anglesea SLSC Lightning qualifying for the open women’s final, finishing in sixth place.
It wasn’t just the athletes who were successful, with three local officials receiving milestone service awards from Surf Life Saving Australia.
Torquay SLSC’s Rod Costa was recognised for achieving 40 years of service, Graham Rice – a member of Lorne SLSC and Kurrawa SLSC in Queensland – for 30 years of service, and William Johnson from Torquay for 20 years of service.
Life Saving Victoria general manager education, sport and club development Kate Simpson said she was thoroughly impressed with the efforts by all Victorian athletes, officials, coaches, team managers and the other volunteers and supporters who attended The Aussies.
“As the biggest event on the lifesaving sport calendar, and comparable in size to the Commonwealth Games, it takes an incredible amount of work from our volunteers to get to The Aussies,” she said.
“To see our Geelong-Surf Coast athletes performing so well across water, beach, lifesaving and surf boat disciplines, balancing their chosen sport with volunteering to keep Victorians safe at our beaches, is incredibly impressive.”
Although the summer is over, lifesaving sports are continuing, with the pool lifesaving season starting last month and the inflatable rescue boat racing season kicking off at the end of April.
