Trigg Island claim Champion Club title for another consecutive year

Scarborough Beach played host to the 2022 SunSmart WA Surf Life Saving Championships (Youth/Open) this weekend, bringing 1,108 of WA’s best surf sports athletes together from 21 clubs for some fierce competition.

Conditions were ideal for racing with a light westerly breeze creating small waves for competitors. Sunday morning saw a rise in the swell which created some very exciting racing and many nail-biting finishes.

The weekend began with the 2km beach run, before spectators gathered to watch the Official Opening Ceremony, opened by Surf Life Saving WA President Craig Smith-Gander AM.

On the beach, Megan McCaffrey from City of Perth claimed gold in both the Open & U17 Female Beach Sprint as well as taking out the U17 Female Beach Relay with club mates Holly Fraser, Lucy Hills & Jorja Van Pelt. City of Perth beachies proved their dominance on the sand claiming the top 6 spots in the Open Female Beach Sprint, as well as top three in the Open Female Beach Flags on Sunday.

Matthew Lloyd from North Cottesloe knocked 2021 Open Male Beach Sprint champion, Charlie Rigby, into second place. However, Rigby along with club mates Daniel Mann, Caleb Paulus & Tana Wesley from Quinns Mindarie, proved too strong for North Cottesloe in the Open Male Beach Relay.

Day 2 started with the traditional and iconic March Past event, which was accompanied by the WA Police Pipe Band. The schedule for the second and final day was jam-packed full of finals, live commentary by Hayden Marchetto and Mick Colliss, and the live-stream, which all made for a great atmosphere down at Scarborough Beach.

Having spent much of the year competing on the east coast, it was fantastic to have Will Savage (Trigg Island) back racing on home soil. The reigning Bernie Kelly medalist continued his impressive display of athleticism taking home 12 gold medals, including the U19 and Open Ironman, and 2 bronze.

Dream team, Steve Bird and Jesse Phillips from North Cottesloe who represented Australia together in the 2012 London Olympics, took gold for another year in the Open Male Double Ski.

City of Perth’s Alysse Priddis and Gabby Murphy went head-to-head in the Open Female Beach Flags, with Alysse taking the win again this year. Over in the Open Male arena, Quinns Mindarie’s Charlie Rigby took home gold in the Beach Flags ahead of Tom Nolan from North Cottesloe.

Sophie Baron-Hay (City of Perth) was challenged yet again with a sprint to the finish line, neck-and-neck with Mullaloo’s Jenna Stummer in the U17 Ironwoman race while Johann Szymanski (North Cottesloe) was also fighting for gold in the U17 Ironman with Joe Quirk from Quinns Mindarie hot on his heels right to the end.

Macarah Mallis (Trigg Island) proved why she is a force to be reckoned with, entering the swim leg in 6th position to then leading the field into the ski and ultimately taking the win in the Open Ironwoman.

Over in the Surf Boat arena, North Cottesloe dominated across the weekend, only being knocked from first position once by City of Perth’s Thunderbirds in the U23 Male category.

Special mention to City of Bunbury’s Sway Brown, Olivia Doddy, Anna Lockley & Kyra Tierney who won the Youth Female Cameron Relay!

The highly anticipated Open Female (3 person) and Male (6 person) Taplin Relays were a great end to the weekend with many people cheering on their club mates from the side lines. Trigg Island claimed first position in both the Open Female & Male as well as U17 Females & U19 Male.

2022 Champion Club

1^st – Trigg Island Surf Life Saving Club – 672 points

2^nd – North Cottesloe Surf Life Saving Club – 608 points

3^rd – City of Perth Surf Life Saving Club – 531 points

Champion Handicap Club – Cottesloe Surf Life Saving Club

2022 Champion Youth Club 

1^st – Trigg Island Surf Life Saving Club – 114 points

2^nd – Sorrento Surf Life Saving Club – 113 points

3^rd – Mullaloo Surf Life Saving Club – 106 points

City of Bunbury claim 28th consecutive Country Championship title

Having made the journey to Perth, over 200 competitors from 10 of our regional clubs converged on Trigg Beach to contest the 2022 SunSmart WA Country Championships on Sunday 5 March.

City of Bunbury once again showed up in force with standout performances from several of their athletes across all age categories giving them an unsurpassable lead to take out their 28th consecutive country championship title! Congratulations also go to joint Handicap winners, Esperance Goldfields SLSC and Port Bouvard SLSC.

The weekend also saw more than 300 masters competitors go head to head on Saturday 4 March at Trigg Beach for the SunSmart WA Masters Championships where North Cottesloe SLSC were crowned Champion Masters Club for 2022.

SunSmart WA Country Surf Life Saving Championships

• Champion Club: City of Bunbury Surf Life Saving Club 
• Handicap Club: Esperance Goldfields Surf Life Saving Club & Port Bouvard Surf Life Saving Club

SunSmart WA Masters Surf Life Saving Championships

• Champion Club: North Cottesloe Surf Life Saving Club

RESULTS can be found here.

PHOTOS – check out albums from both day 1 & 2 on our Facebook page.

LIVE STREAM – watch back the action from day 2 on our Facebook page or YouTube channel.

These events don’t happen without the support of many people. We would like to extend a thank you to our naming rights partner Healthway, promoting the SunSmart message. Their support enables us to deliver a comprehensive, year-round surf sports calendar, including these Championships.