2017 SunSmart WA Nipper Surf Life Saving Championships Wrap

An action packed weekend at the 2017 SunSmart WA Nipper Surf Life Saving Championships saw many outstanding performances from our U10-U13 Nipper athletes as well as wonderful displays of sportsmanship and comradery as athletes encouraged and cheered for each other.

The 2017 SunSmart WA Nipper Surf Life Saving Championships saw 836 Nipper athletes competing under the watchful eye of over 60 Officials, Referees and Announcers.

The action kicked off on Friday night with competitors under lights and sunset at the Scarborough Beach Amphitheatre as spectators watched the sand come alive with beach flags action. North Cottesloe and Fremantle took home three golds apiece with some great displays of athleticism from all the competitors.

Following this great evening Trigg Beach produced some flat conditions for Saturday and Sunday although a sand bank just offshore created some exciting finishing runs up the beach to the finish line.

Sunday morning commenced with the 1km Beach Run where spectators crowded along the course cheering on all competitors. With Beach Relays run on the Saturday, we were left with the hotly contested Beach Sprints and all important water-based team events to be run on Sunday. With the threat of storm clouds on the horizon, every competitor gave it their best to win both individual medals as well as points for their club.

While a passing storm front halted competition for a period, it was only a short wait before competitors were back in the water to finish the U13 Male Cameron Relay, U11 Female Board Relay and U11 Male Cameron Relay. A second storm front closed in as these events finished and we were unfortunately unable to run the final event of the day, the U11 Female Cameron Relay, however competitor safety was our primary concern.

Congratulations to Trigg Island SLSC who took out the overall points on 659 points.

Overall Points Score:

1st – Trigg Island SLSC – 659 points.

2nd – Fremantle SLSC – 532 points

3rd – Mullaloo SLSC – 282 points

Fremantle SLSC won the handicap points shield showing their consistent improvement over the season finishing ahead of North Cottesloe SLSC and Coogee Beach SLSC.

Beach Flags at Scarborough Amphitheatre

March Past at Trigg Beach

Storm rolling in on Sunday arvo cleared the water

Check out more photos by Tony Bowers here. You can also view some great footage captured by our drone on our YouTube channel!

Congratulations to our 2017 SunSmart Nipper Age Champions – awarded to those athletes who accumulated the most gold medals, with a weighting on individual events.

U/10 Female: Nelli Johnson – Trigg Island SLSC with 1 individual gold, 1 individual bronze, 2 team gold, 1 team silver and 1 team bronze medals.

U/10 Male: Thomas Dreverman – Fremantle SLSC with 1 individual gold, 1 individual silver and 2 team gold medals.

U/11 Female: Megan McCaffrey – North Cottesloe SLSC with 2 individual gold medals.

U/11 Male: Zachary Mills – Trigg Island SLSC with 2 individual gold, 1 individual bronze and 4 team gold medals.

U/12 Female: Alice Williams – City of Perth SLSC with 2 individual gold, 1 individual silver, 1 team gold, 2 team silver and 1 team bronze medals.

U/12 Male: Liam Pizzirani – Fremantle SLSC with 2 individual gold and 1 team bronze medals.

U/13 Female: Maisy Redden – Mullaloo SLSC with 2 individual gold, 1 individual silver, 1 individual bronze and 3 team bronze medals.

U/13 Male: Lucas Wilson – Sorrento SLSC with 2 individual gold and 2 team gold medals.

These events don’t happen without the support of many people. A big shout out to our WA Championships Naming Rights Partner, Healthway, promoting the SunSmart message. Healthway have long been an important supporter of our Surf Sports program with the particularly relevant message of being SunSmart! Thanks also to the host of Officials, Referees and Announcers who did a great job over the weekend with long hours on the beach and, of course, to Trigg Island SLSC for hosting a fantastic event!