Innes taught the crew how to trail (move to the rear of the boat on a wave) last Thursday in fairly calm conditions at Durras.

Indications of just how tough it was going to be came early when the One Life Warriors arrived at Manly Beach on Saturday.

"The men's events were on before us, and two competitors were stretchered off into ambulances," Innes said.

"It was a bit daunting for the girls, and it was a credit to all the crews to get in the water."

Instead of the usual knockout format, the races were held as a round robin with points accrued.

The race announcer declared to everyone that the Batemans Bay girls were an experienced unit and would be favourites, for a medal, something Innes took exception to and went and spoke to him.

"I told him that I was the only one with much experience," she said.

To make things more interesting, officials combined the 140-plus age races with the 120-plus races and, as it turns out, the Warriors would have won a silver medal in the 120-plus division, after beating home the highly fancied Bondi and Manly crews.

In the 140-plus division, they beat Fairhaven (Victoria) and Freshwater into silver and bronze.

The Warriors were pounded by a wave at the start of their first race, but recovered to catch the pack at the turning buoys. Big waves made for a rocky ending, but they held on to win.

They were swamped by three consecutive waves at the start of the second race, but once again caught their opponents at the turning buoys and got some nice waves into the beach to win by four-and-a-half boat lengths.

They also finished ahead of all the 120-plus boats in this race.

The Warriors caught a quality wave in the third and final race to charge into the beach and claim gold.

"The girls were nervous but they did really well," Innes said.

Sydney 2009 World Masters Games declared best ever

THE Sydney 2009 World Masters Games were today officially declared the best ever by International Masters Games Association President Kai Holm.

"The Sydney 2009 World Masters Games have set a new standard, which is going to raise this event to an international level we haven't been to before," Mr Holm said.

Minister for Tourism Jodi McKay paid credit to the Games workforce, including more than 5,000 volunteers, for their role in making the Sydney 2009 World Masters Games such a success.

"The World Masters Games has been a fantastic event for Sydney and NSW," Ms McKay said.

"It has demonstrated once again that Sydney is Australia's premier events city.

"The success of the Games is testament to the thousands of volunteers and dedicated staff who put countless hours work into planning and delivering this event."

Ms McKay said the Sydney 2009 World Masters Games captured international headlines for Sydney.

"We have seen more than 28,000 people, from all corners of the globe, play their part in upholding the spirit of Master's competition and demonstrating to everyone the benefits of being fit, fun and forever young," Ms McKay said.

"There have been so many fantastic stories over the nine days of competition and I have thoroughly enjoyed getting out and about and meeting so many inspirational people."

"People such as 100-year-old athlete Ruth Frith, 98-year-old swimmer Margo Bates and 69-year-old Carl Hebel, who walked 1,100 kilometres from Gympie to be part of the Games, have all made big headlines.

"They embody what Masters competition is all about and I thank each and every competitor and official who has been part of this truly memorable event."

Games Chair Margy Osmond said that the event had been inspirational.

"The highlight for us has been all about people, that's what this event is about," Ms Osmond said.

"The Games are about individuals striving to be the best they can be.

"We've seen some outstanding, really inspiring performances.

"And some of our sporting ambassadors, who are previous sporting superstars, found their way into the gold medal bracket."

The Games in Sydney were the seventh edition of the world's largest multi-sport event, with another recent Olympic city, Turin, hosting the eighth in 2013.

Sydney 2009 World Masters Games key facts:

The Sydney 2009 World Masters Games attracted 28,292 competitors from 95 countries, making it the world's largest multi-sport event ever.

Of the 28,292 Games competitors, 11,635 came from New South Wales, 8,094 came from elsewhere in Australia and 8,563 came from overseas, including 2,272 Canadians, 1,404 Kiwis and 832 Americans.

Games competitors contested 28 sports at 72 venues, as far north as Mona Vale, as far south as Mt Keira and as far west as Clandulla State Forest.

Football was the most popular Games sport attracting 2,909 competitors.

There were 16,533 male and 11,739 female competitors, while the average age of a Games competitor was 50 years, with most aged 40-59.

Nine of the Games ambassadors competed and eight of them - Jennifer Bourne (gold)), Sarah Fitz-Gerald (gold), Jenny Holliday (gold), Daniel Kowalski (gold), Russell Mark (gold), Shelley Oates-Wilding (gold), Andy Harper (silver) and Mark Geyer (bronze) won medals.

The youngest Games competitor was 24 year-old Canadian swimmer Facundo Chernikoff, while there were two Australian centenarians - 101 year-old lawn bowler Reg Trewin and 100 year-old athlete Ruth Frith (Ruth won six gold medals in this year's competition).

There were 8,549 gold, 7,777 silver and 7,111 bronze medals awarded during the nine days of Games competition.