Over 7500 surf lifesavers are or have taken part in the 2022 Australian Surf Life Saving Championships, taking the opportunity to represent their clubs, branch and state and catch up with friends from other states, as well as test themselves by having a go.
Although some of the events had high numbers of entrants, those from the peninsula were up among the placings, when not winning bronze, silver and gold.
The only jarring note was when Peter Spence, Palm Beach SLSC Boat Captain and Sweep extraordinaire was injured in the racing on Saturday April 9th. SLSA, The ASRL and the Spence family provided the following update later in the afternoon:
Surf boats competitor, Peter Spence from Palm Beach (NSW), was transported by ambulance to the hospital after being struck in the face during the competition.
His wife is by his side at the hospital where he is being monitored as a precautionary measure due to water on lungs sustained after being struck in the face and knocked unconscious.
He is expected to make a full recovery and is in good spirits.
The incident occurred whilst the crew were returning to shore in the challenging conditions. He was promptly rescued by SLSA water safety with assistance from his crew where he was transported to the beach and received immediate medical treatment.
Peter and his family are grateful to everyone who helped in the water and on the beach. The level of concern and patient care displayed is immensely appreciated.
Spencey's report and photos from April 8th 2022, his Aussies Day 1 runs first this year:
My 23’s & 19’s - The ecstasy and the agony! Ecstasy in making 3 from 3 finals yesterday 😀 The agony of not getting that Aussie Gold 😢
Stoked though to make 3 finals in tough conditions and so proud of my 3 crews that took the surf on, even with the limited surf work we do!
U/23 Women - Panthers - DNF in the final after rolling and snapping the sweepoar in the back break.
What a season for the girls with 13 starts - 11 wins, a 2nd and yesterdays DNF. Branch, NSW ASRL & ASRL Open Golds along with the Aussie final 👏👏
Call-out to Rach Balcomb for racing the semi and the final with a fractured wrist after hurting it in the Qtr, gutsy 💪
U/19 Men - Pitbulls - BRONZE 🥉- wow what a season with Branch & NSW ASRL Gold and ASRL Open & Aussies Bronzes! Only had these boys for a few months of training, a lovely bunch of boys 👍
U/23 Men - Plumbers SILVER 🥈- beaten for the second year in a row by a small margin, silvers back to back, we will get that gold next season!
Again an incredible season for the Plumbers with 13 starts - 8 wins, 3 seconds & 2 thirds, never missed a final or a place in a final. Branch and NSW ASRL Gold and ASRL Open and Aussies Silvers both in a sprint to the line!
3 exceptional crews that have been a pleasure to sweep ❤️
Now to hopefully get more racing and results this weekend with my Open Men Projectors and my Reserve Men Padlocks.
Well done Mr. Spence and Palm Beach SLSC, the community here sends their love to you and Steph.
Along with seeing the very young and masters enjoying their surf sports, dedication to the Aussies and marking the same has featured for a few local members.
Queenscliff's Colin White was recognised for 50 years of Officiating. Col was presented with the award at the SLSA Officials Dinner.
Col first joined the SLS movement at City of Perth SLSC in 1953, before shifting to Trigg Island in 1955. Col spent 7 years at Trigg, and then transferred to his current Club; Queenscliff, NSW.
From an early age Col was an outstanding life saver as is evidenced by his Bravery Award in 1958. Col held positions of significance at the Queenscliff Club including a 3 year term as Club President, 8 years as Deputy President and 2 years as Club Captain. Col received Distinguished Service from Queenscliff SLSC in 1986; Queenscliff Life Membership in 1989 and Sydney Northern Beaches Life Membership in 1991.
Col has influenced generations of young people in the ideals of the Community and Surf Life Saving, many of whom are still active within the Club and readily acknowledge the debt they owe to him.
Col’s involvement and service to the Branch has seen him perform many varied duties in the areas of officialdom, coaching, selecting, examining and representation. Col was a prominent member of the Branch judiciary; he had a reputation of being hard but fair in an area when tough decisions had to be made. Col was awarded Branch Examiner of the Year in 98/99 and Branch Coach of the Year in 01/02. In 2011 Col was made a Life Member of Surf Life Saving Australia (SLSA).
Queenscliff SLSC’s Michael Gedz and Bondi SBLSC’s Dori Miller were recognised for their outstanding contributions to surf sports and inducted into the SLSA Hall of Fame as Masters Legends.
The pair were formally announced during a special ceremony at the Australian Surf Life Saving Championships on the Gold Coast on Tuesday 5 April, at the conclusion of the 29th Masters Championships – first held at Aussies in 1993 and not running in 2020.
The award recognises Masters competitors, individuals or teams, over the age of 35 years who have achieved exceptional results over a sustained period in designated Masters competition and have done so in events and Masters age categories that have had a high level of competitiveness.
Michael said the recognition was better than anything he’d received in the past.
“It’s the best award I’ve ever had, it beats everything,” he said.
“I’m humbled, I’ve been on cloud nine since they rang me – it’s overwhelming.”
Michael Gedz - Masters Legend
Since commencing Masters competition in 1997, Michael has been a prolific winner in the Beach events arena. Overall, he has won 32 gold medals and 13 other podium finishes, with 16 of these golds being first placings in either Beach Sprint or Beach Flags. In the last 10 Championships alone, he has won his age group in the Beach Sprint nine times.
At World Lifesaving Championship level since 1998 (35-39 years) he has been successful in winning 10 individual gold medals at six world championships including four other podium finishes. Mr. Gedz has done well again in the 2022 Aussies - results below.
Surf Life Saving NSW stated; ''Masters competitors play an integral part in the sport arena, through their dedication to Surf Life Saving and competitiveness and fitness to maintain a healthy lifestyle and play a key role within their clubs. It’s those structures that both reflect on as crucial reasons for their love of surf sports.''
“You have to find something you love to do,” Dori said.
“When you’re younger you don’t think long term but having something that you’re good at that you enjoy to do, that can carry you through later in life.”
“The club, the support, the sport, without that it’s nothing. You can win the medals on your own but without all this it’s nothing,” Michael added.
While on outstanding achievements, Freshwater’s Open First Aid Competition Team Tahlia Deardon and Julia Baker won the Surf Life Saving Australia Aussie Championship and take home the Tess Cramond Shield. They won their division by a massive 47 points ahead of others.
Teresa (Tess) Rita O’Rourke Cramond (née Brophy) AO, OBE (1926-2015) was an Australian doctor and the director of the Multidisciplinary Pain Centre at the Royal Brisbane Hospital. Her career spanning fifty years, was dedicated to improving the use of anaesthesia, resuscitation and pain medicine, with specific reference to the relief of cancer pain and palliative care.
Surf Life Saving Australia initially adopted the indirect resuscitation methods used by the Royal Life Saving Society. As new indirect methods became available, both organisations adapted their resuscitation techniques and followed international developments closely. In the 1950s, accumulating evidence suggested that direct methods of resuscitation, such as mouth-to-mouth ventilation, might be more efficacious. Subsequently a number of investigations were carried out in Sydney at the Royal Prince Alfred Hospital on anaesthetised and paralysed patients. These experiments were recorded for an ABC documentary and reported at the International Convention on Life Saving Techniques held in Sydney in March 1960.
Following the convention, Queensland Surf Life Saving conducted training sessions in cooperation with anaesthetists Roger Bennett and Tess Brophy (later Cramond), at St Andrew's Hospital in Brisbane. This allowed over one hundred people to gain experience in expired air and bag-mask ventilation.
Professor Tess Cramond OBE AO was an Honorary Life Member of Surf Lifesaving Queensland and Surf Lifesaving Australia and was inducted into the SLSA Hall of Fame in 2004.
Queenscliff's strength in the First Aid component of Local, State and National surf life saving championship competitions reflects well on Manly Council, which was among the first to protect surf bathers, employing local fishermen, the Sly brothers, to patrol offshore and, in 1905, a lifeguard, Edward ‘Happy’ Eyre.
On March 20th, 2022 Surf Life Saving New South Wales reported:
The medals were still being handed out at the NSW Championships First Aid competition inside the Queenscliff SLSC when an emergency unfolded on the beach in front – a surfer pulled from the water not breathing.
Volunteers on patrol at both Queenscliff and Nth Steyne performed CPR on the man in his 60s, along with lifeguards, including using a defibrillator. He was transported to hospital by Ambulance.
“I was very impressed with the patrol captain, Shaun Sursok,” said Adrienne Lowe, who was at Queenscliff helping to judge the First Aid competition and scrambled to act as the initial Duty Officer on scene for the CPR.
“He really impressed me with the way he just pulled his team together, they were really well organised, doing what they’d been trained to do.
“It was a busy day, there were a lot of sightseers and particularly when the helicopter landed, the patrol did an amazing job clearing the area and working with the police and ambulance to clear a safe landing site,“ she said.
Ironically, the actions and skills displayed by the patrol team embody exactly what the First Aid Competition aims to develop and showcase. This weekend’s rescheduled Championship competition was one of the few events to be staged at this year’s NSW Surf Life Saving Championships, proudly supported by Your local club, after all of the Masters and Opens Championships were forced to cancel due to the flood emergency.
Not requiring access to the beach or water, this weekend’s competitors, in age divisions from Under 15 to Opens, were very appreciative to have been able to compete.
“It was such a good learning curve, every competition you do you learn something,” said Adrienne. “To give them that opportunity at a State level will be invaluable when they come to compete at the Aussies.”
It might be a less high-profile event than the Ironperson or Beach Sprint, however the First Aid competition is an extremely important part of Surf Life Saving Championships, designed to promote and demonstrate a high standard of First Aid prowess by Surf Life Saving members in teams of two.
Each event has a set simulated accident scenario and a set time limit for each team in the event to respond. Teams come out of isolation to a completely random emergency and are required to examine their casualties, make their diagnosis and then treat the casualties using the materials provided and their first aid kits.
Points are awarded based on the teams’ approach to the casualty, examination and diagnosis, treatment applied and management of the incident.
And it’s in the area of the approach to patients that judges have noticed the greatest improvement in performance, according to Adrienne Lowe, a Deputy Referee to Steve Haggett this weekend and 15-year veteran of officiating at First Aid and Lifesaving Championships.
“The standard was really high. We’ve seen it come up remarkably in recent years and the level of patient care has improved. It’s a great competition and it’s getting closer to what you’d do in a real life situation, the competitors are not just trying to get points.”
In the U15 division, Newport SLSC teams took gold and silver, while the always impressive Freshwater SLSC teams dominated the U17s and Umina won the U19 competition. Manly’s Jasmine and Lauren Costello claimed gold in the Open division.
In the Youth Championships North Curl Curl had a very good Aussies. Zara Kasprowicz and Luke Higgs crossed the line first in the U14 Female and Male Ironperson, while Zara grabbed a second gold medal in the U14 Female Surf Race, with clubmate Pipi Te Pania coming in third. Pipi took out the U14 Female Board Race before the girls joined Dominique Melbourn, who had earlier won the U15 Female Surf Race, to bring further success for North Curl Curl in the U14 & U15 Female Surf Teams. The Male U13 & U14 team was also victorious.
Newport's Noah Maggs won bronze in the U14 Male Board Race, with 177 athletes competing in that event, and took bronze again in the U13 & U14 Male Board Rescue with team mate Harrison Woodrow.
Results run below, including everyone who had a go, which makes them winners too.
The Surf Life Saving’s masters competitors descended on the Gold Coast’s Broadbeach for the Australian Surf Life Saving Championships from April 4th. The Aussies masters event features competitors aged 30 to 80+ in ocean and beach events.
Among the familiar faces were legends of the sport including Grant Kenny, Darren Mercer, Guy Andrews, Candice Warner, Penny Turner and 1996 Olympian Jim Walker (North Bondi) who struck home for North Bondi in the Single Ski Relay, to pip Ironman legend Grant Kenny and his Alexandra Headland team at the post, and win a gold medal.
On the beach it was an emotional win for Queenscliff’s Sukie Southern, dedicating her gold medal win in the 60-64 year old beach sprint, to her late husband.
“I’ve actually just come out of a hiatus, I haven’t been training. I made a comeback because of Paul Hammond (late husband)… we spread his ashes at our home beach and running on Queenscliff Beach for State, I thought ‘I’m in!’
“But unfortunately it never happened (due to cancellation), so I thought having trained for it, I may as well come and do something for everyone here,” Sukie said.
The next day Sukie Southern (Queenscliff) stood atop of the podium again, winning the 60-64 years Female Beach Flags.
“Winning the double is so special, and I did it for my late husband Paul Hammond,” Sukie said. “He was a life member at our club Queenscliff, and a coach there for decades – we scattered his ashes at the beach and I made a comeback to run on that same beach.
“This is the first ever gold medal in Beach Flags that I’ve won at Aussies and I can’t remember how many I’ve won in the Beach Sprint!”
Avalon Beach SLSC's Jean Harper did well in the Board riding championships, taking a gold in the short board comp. and placing in the long board comp., while fellow club member Aisha Ferris took silver in the 2km Beach Run Female 50-54
Palm Beach SLSC's Fi Rae just keeps winning, taking silver in the Board race and another gold in the ski race again this Aussies.
Avalon Beach SLSC's Jean Harper
Avalon Beach SLSC's Aisha Ferris
Warriewood masters excelled on the sand again, taking gold in the 170 years division while Adam Gee won gold again in the beach sprint 50-54 yrs. On the water 240 Mens Masters, the Crustys; David Peaston, Carl Quitzau, Mark Hodgson, Al Lerpiniere, Sweep: Russell Lamb, secured the silver.
The Crustys
Queenscliff's Reality Queens also excelled in the masters boat races, taking gold in the 180 Female division.
In the 30-34 yrs Male Beach Sprint Manly's Michael Kember won the gold while Narrabeen's Luke Alcock took the bronze. In fact locals took places 1 to 4 in some events. For instance the 60-64 yrs Male Beach Sprint; 1st: Nigel Kassulke, Manly, 2nd: Stephen Nelson, Queenscliff, 3rd: Brett Budd, Newport and 4th: David Shearsby, Queenscliff.
The Opens commenced on April 6th. The day saw plenty of gold medals awarded, including the blue ribbon teams events which got the crowds lining the sands on their feet cheering.
There was an upset in the Open Male Ski Relay, with Newport’s B team staging a stunning come from behind paddle to claim the victory ahead of hot favourites Northcliffe and Redhead. The 37 year old dads from Newport, Luke Morrison, Luke Jones and Greg Tobin, are lifetime friends, with Jones thrilled the team could pull out the win.
“You’ve just gotta put your foot on the line, and I don’t get nervous about the result, I get nervous about how much I’m about to hurt myself.
“GT gave me the rev up beforehand, and he just told me to keep going even if you’re in a bad position. I was hurting on the way out, and then got a little runner on the way in and tagged the big fella (Luke Morrison) who finished it off for us.
“They’re pretty special races, and they are so hard to win. I’m very lucky to have won a ski relay before but to do it with the Dads’ Army is pretty cool,” said Jones.
Huge congratulations to Luke Morrison (Head Ski Coach), Luke Jones and Greg Tobin. Photo: Newport Kinghorn Surf Racing Academy
Newport Team A took gold in the U17 Male Single Ski Relay; Jake Morris, Mitchell Morris, Bailey Clues and then backed that up in the U17 single ski; Jake 1st, Mitch 2nd, Bailey 4th. This was followed in U17 Taplin Relay with a gold and silver, congratulations gold winners Newport Team A; Bailey Clues, Conner Maggs and Mitchell Morris and Newport Team B; Jake Morris, Lee Melbourn, Anthony Doyle.
Newport's U17 Taplin Relay teams. Photo: Newport Kinghorn Surf Racing Academy
More Surf Boats Results: Now that's what jubilation looks like as the Pinkies take out the Reserve Male Surf Boat title and win their first Australian gold medal in this category. They're no strangers to the podium with a swag of medals already achieved as U23s as well as Silver medallists in this category at the State Championships last season. Mateship and teamwork at it's best.
Pinkies; Tom Curnow, Matt Mayall, Nick Sampson, Andrew Bright and Nathan Wellings (sweep). Photos: Malcolm Trees and John Veage
The Australian Surf Life Saving Championships was held across the Gold Coast from 2-10 April 2022.
More in the SLSA Aussies Hub at: sls.com.au/aussies-hub
