Congratulations to all Narooma competitors, officials and supporters for a hugely successful weekend of action at the 2015 Stramit NSW Country Surf Life Saving Championships.
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Narooma finished 13th out of 32 clubs beating several much larger towns.
It was great to see families enjoying the competition and encouraging our entrants to do their best in a very competitive carnival with large numbers of talented junior and senior lifesavers.
The finalists all had to repeat their performances time and again to get through the many heats, semi-finals and final showdowns.
It was awesome to see all competitors challenging themselves to complete difficult events
With healthy numbers in most Nipper age groups, our team spirit shone giving Narooma the opportunity to enter relay events, alongside clubs from higher populated areas.
Friday saw challenging water conditions for our junior swimmers and board paddlers with some big dumping sets.
Much perseverance was shown by those determined to have a crack. The water safety and team of officials are to be commended for maintaining their focus on the well-being of those in the water throughout the days water events, their process of accounting for everyone in and out of the water was structured and deliberate.
Narooma had seven Under 8 Nippers, their debut at the Country Titles and new to competition this season, who performed confidently with each of them gaining a place in the final of their male/female wade.
Not surprisingly, the U8 wade relay team brought home a silver medal.
It was very exciting stuff. Our seniors on the sand did well kicking off the carnival with many medals in the mix as well.
Saturday the nippers were on the beach, starting with our All Age Relay team getting first place in their heat.
Great baton changes and speed from each of them set the pace for the day. The seniors were in the water, with events such as Ironman, ski and board races as well as surfboat rowing. Great results and sportsmanship continued through the day and into the next.
A big thank-you to Steve Dobson and Chris Young for their role as officials, and thanks also going to Brendan Constable and Andrew McCaughtrie for their time in the IRB.
Camping at Mollymook Showground was lots of fun, and we may have to show a few of our cricket skills off at Nippers next week!
Thank you to Fleur for organizing our accommodation, a cheap and easy solution for us all.
Well done and congratulations to our Narooma SLSC Country Champions, we came home with a total of 10 gold medals, four silver and two bronze medals. What an amazing achievement.
Narooma results
Gold Medalists:
120yr Male Surf Boat – Brendan Constable, Jae Constable, Michael Manning, Nigel Constable & Rod Patmore
Under 8 Male Beach Flags – Sam Patmore
Under 8 Mixed Beach Sprint Relay – Bella Davis, Mystery Bennett, Sam Patmore, Travis Stubbs
Under 12 Male Beach Flags – Jack Bennett
Under 12 Male Beach Sprint – Jack Bennett
Under 15 Female Beach Flags – Lilly Bennett
Under 15 Female Beach Sprint – Lilly Bennett
Under 19 Male 2km Beach Run – Joe Halsey
Under 19 Male Beach Flags – Joe Halsey
Under 19 Male Beach Sprint – Joe Halsey
Silver Medalists:
Under 8 Female Beach Sprint – Mystery Bennett
Under 8 Male Beach Sprint – Sam Patmore
Under 8 Mixed Wade Relay – Joey Cowley, Kirra McCaughtrie, Sam Patmore, Travis Stubbs
Under 11 Female Beach Sprint – Elli Beecham
Bronze Medalists:
30-39 Male Beach Sprint – Rod Patmore
Under 10 Female Beach Sprint – Sienna Anderson
4th place:
Under 8 Female Beach Flags – Mystery Bennett
Under 9 Female Beach Flags – Halle Constable
Under 11 Male Beach Sprint – Jack Davis
Under 15 Male Beach Sprint – Connor Griffiths
5th place:
Under 8 Female Wade – Kirra McCaughtrie
Under 8 Male Beach Flags – Travis Stubbs
Under 10 Female Beach Flags – Sienna Anderson
Under 11 Female Beach Flags – Elli Beecham
Under 19 Male Single Ski – Joe Halsey
6th place:
180yr Male Surf Boat – Andrew McCaughtrie, Brendan Constable, Chris Young, John Carruthers & Troy Beecham
Under 15 Female Beach Sprint – Elizabeth Halsey
Under 15 Male Beach Flags – Connor Griffiths
Under 19 Male Iron Man – Joe Halsey
Byron Bay is 2015 Country Champion
It may have been tight after the second day of competition, but defending champions Byron Bay have powered home to victory on the final morning of the 2015 Stramit NSW Country Surf Life Saving Championships.
The Far North Coast Club finished the carnival with 963 points, well clear of second placed Warilla Barrack Point SLSC and third placed Cudgen Headland.
Hosts Mollymook flew the flag for the South Coast branch finishing a highly credible fourth place. Shellharbour SLSC rounded out the top five.
Sunscreen was essential as once again a blazing sun greeted the competitors for the third and final morning of competition at Mollymook Beach.
Traditionally Byron Bay have always been strong in the ski events, and they once again proved it on Sunday dominating the senior divisions.
Shaun Sewell and Ryan Beckett teamed up to win the U19 double ski, and after a few minutes rest they backed up to also take out the Open double ski event as well.
Not to be outdone by the boy’s efforts club mates Joanna Charles and Jayden Morgan teamed up to record victories in the U19 and Open double ski as well.
Warilla Barrack Point’s Jordan White had to fight hard for her victory, but broke the Northern Clubs stranglehold on the water events with a strong performance in the open board.
“It was a really good race today, and I got a bit of backwash on the way out, which helped. I felt the girls behind me near the cans and I knew that I was going to have to paddle all the way back in,” White said after the race.
I was prepared for that as it was dead flat and I knew that anyone who caught a wave today would be very lucky.”
Surf Life Saving NSW Sports Manager Shane Knight was delighted with the success of the carnival and praised hosts Mollymook for once again delivering an outstanding championship.
“Congratulations to Byron Bay for retaining the Country Championships title. We’ve seen a lot of exceptional performances from U8s through to Masters over the three days of competition,” Mr Knight said.
“I would like to thank Mollymook Surf Life Saving Club for all their efforts in delivering the Championships over the past two years. It’s not easy hosting over 1200 athletes, officials and spectators from around the state, but the club has been very accommodating.”
Final Point-Score
1 Byron Bay SLSC 893
2 Warilla Barrack Point SLSC 740
3 Cudgen Headland SLSC 546.5
4 Mollymook SLSC 372
5 Shellharbour SLSC 322
6 Coffs Harbour SLSC 268
7 Port Macquarie SLSC 255
8 Sawtell SLSC 248
9 Tacking Point SLSC 232
10 Lennox Head - Alstonville SLSC 195.5