Red hot form gives City Red surf league win

Coming off a win in round 1 of the SunSmart WA Surf League, expectations were high for City Red and once again they delivered, taking six event wins which saw them close out round 2 sitting atop the leader board ahead of North Cott and City Black.

The first event of the day, the Open Mixed 1km run, saw Scarboro Black’s Ben Johnson first across the line with a comfortable lead over the field, while Swanbourne-Nedlands Anne-Marie Juengling was the first female to cross.

First up on the water was the 2 x Person Mixed Ski Relay, a new addition to the program along with the 2 x Person Mixed Board Relay, following their success at the recent SLSA Super Surf Teams League.

With teams able to select which of their paddlers went first, those who started with their male team member proved difficult to catch. North Cottesloe’s Steve Bird took the lead early and kept it, coming into the beach ahead of Trigg Island Red’s Dan Humble and Cottesloe Pylons’ Wes Gould.

Handing over to their female paddlers, while it was North Cottesloe’s Yale Steinepreis who hit the water first, all eyes were on City Red’s Nikita Fredonnet who jumped from 4th into 2nd with a textbook start. Despite sitting a ski length behind Steinepreis coming into the beach, Fredonnet was able to pick the better line, getting her off the ski first and taking the win for City Red by a nose in a sprint to the line.

Fredonnet didn’t stop there, also pocketing a win (with team mate Matt Collis) in the 2 x Person Open Mixed Board Relay, 2nd’s in the Open Female Single Ski, behind Steinepreis, the Open Female Board Race, which was comfortably taken out by Trigg Island Red’s Ceris Humble, and the Open Mixed Ocean M Relay, and a 3rd in the Open Female Ironman, making an impressive contribution to her teams winning score.

Mullaloo Blue’s Soraya Lee also had an impressive day on the beach as she took out a surprise win in the Open Ironwoman event ahead of Ceris Humble, before backing it up with a win in the Female Surf Race and a 3rd in the Single Ski.

In the Open Ironman, Wes Gould (Cottesloe Pylons) took the lead early on the board, with Matt Colliss (City Red) and Max Hunter (Trigg Island Green) hot on his heels into the swim. Heading into the swim in 4th, Trigg Island Red’s Wes Savage made up some ground, coming back into the beach in 2nd but wasn’t able to chase down Gould who took an easy win with Savage in 2nd and Colliss in 3rd.

Colliss continued his strong performance, adding to City Red’s tally as he took wins in the Open Male Board Race and the Open Mixed Board Relay with team mate Fredonnet.

In the youth arena, the Ironwoman saw City Red’s Sophie Baron-Hay put on an impressive performance, a strong swim leg bringing her into the beach well ahead of ahead of Mikaela Innocent (Trigg Island Red) in 2nd and Jenna Stummer (Mullaloo Blue) 3rd.

In the male event, City Black’s Nathan Hunt got a quick start off the beach, pushing to the front early on the board, a lead which he maintained all the way to the finish line for the win, ahead of Jarvis Caren (Trigg Island Red) and Harper Davies (Trigg Island Green).

On the sand, the Female Beach Sprint saw another surprise upset as City Black’s Sophie Watts, back from injury, pipped team mate and perennial favourite Gabby Murphy (City Red) to the win, followed by Sorrento Dolphin’s Sydney Rafferty. The same three athletes lined up for the finals of the Beach Flags, this time Gabby Murphy getting one over her club mate for the win, with Rafferty in third.

In the male arena, notably absent was champ Jackson Symonds and, in a tight race, it was North Cott’s Dominic Banks-Smith who took the win over Mullaloo Blue’s Aaron Gigney with Sorrento Dolphins’ Charlie Rigby in third.

In the beach flags, North Cott’s Tom Nolan took to the sand for an easy win ahead of Mitchell Eady (Mullaloo Gold) and Christian Sayers (Sorrento Stingrays).

North Cott continued their dominance in the surf boat arena, taking wins in the both the Open Male and Female events, as well as wins in the Open Male and Female Single Ski events by Bird and Steinepreis respectively, important results all contributing to North Cott’s comfortable second place finish.

The third and final round of the 2020 SunSmart WA Surf League will be contested on 7 March at Sorrento Beach and live streamed via Surf Life Saving WA’s Facebook page and website at www.mybeach.com.au

The full live stream from rounds 1 & 2 can be watched on SLSWA’s You tube channel here.

Thanks to our naming rights partner Healthway, promoting the SunSmart message.