Joe was Narooma's sole competitor competing in several events. His first race was the 2km sand run where he placed a respectable third and received the bronze medal, with North Cronulla and Cronulla winning first and second.

The following day Joe competed in the soft sand sprinting. There were three heats and Joe placed first in heat 1. Joe took it slightly easier in the semi-finals trying to conserve energy for the 3.30pm finals and finished a respectable fourth.

The afternoon was extremely hot and the announcer was talking up the finals contestants asking who will be New South Wales’ fastest man on the beach.

When the gun went off for the start of the final race the crowd roared and cheered the competitors.

The start was lightning fast and Joe was right in there with the leaders. It was a close finish with officials unable to determine who had come in second, third and fourth place.  Officials needed to rely on the electronic time print outs to determine the winners with Narooma’s Joe Halsey taking out fourth and missing out on a medal by just 100’s of a second.

The result was a fantastic accomplishment by Joe as Narooma's sole competitor with Sydney Surf Clubs in awe of this young man from Narooma and the question they were all asking was “where’s Narooma?”

By the end of the meet Joe had grown tired explaining the geographical location of Narooma.

Joe has now been given the opportunity to represent NSW in the Australian Championships in Perth at the end of the month. .

The Narooma boat crew also made the long trek to Umina and the lads did themselves and Narooma proud, putting in a great effort to top off a great season.

Next week Joe will be in Sydney at Olympic Park representing NSW on the athletic track, in the 400m men's under 18's and the 800m in the under 18's at the Australian Athletic Championships.

We wish him well.