Weekend Of Championships Showcases Best Of The Beach

The long weekend saw Trigg Beach awash with surf sports action as it played host to athletes from across WA for the 2023 SunSmart WA Surf Life Saving Championships and the SunSmart WA Country Championships.

Saturday kicked off with the new format beach events of the SunSmart WA Surf Life Saving Champs, with the Nippers, Masters, Youth & Open athletes hitting the sand for the flags, sprints, relays and 1km and 2km beach run.

More than 500 excited Nippers brought their enthusiasm and competitive spirit to the beach and, while competition was fierce, displays of good sportsmanship were celebrated along with the wins.

Hard work across the season certainly paid off for North Cottesloe’s Louis Gibbs (U10) taking three gold across the Beach Sprint, Flags and Beach Relay, and Edward Wallis (U11) claiming the Flags and Sprint double along with Quinns Mindarie’s Imogen Gilhome (U10) and Jade Timoko’s (U12) double gold in the Beach Sprint and 1km Beach Run.

Following Nippers, the March Past took centre stage, and it was fantastic to see many clubs passing the tradition on to their younger members with Sorrento fielding two Nippers teams, one of which went on to claim gold. Congratulations to City of Perth who took the win in the Open event.

The Masters’ were next to hit the beach and competitors showed no signs of slowing down.

In the male arena, Mullaloo’s Alistair Cook took the double in the 45-49 years Flags & Sprint, as did City of Perth’s Craig Simmonds (35-39), and Trigg Island’s Luciano Sabatino (60-64), while the always inspiring Jose Desfosses (Scarboro) took gold in the 70+ 1km Beach Run and Flags.

In the female arena, North Cottesloe’s Tegan Maffescioni switched her focus from MC duties to the sand, claiming gold in the 30-34 Flags and Sprint while Sorrento’s Sue Waite took the double in the 50-54 age group.

While after Saturday’s beach events Mullaloo sat atop the leader board, returning to Trigg on Monday for the surf events, it was the Trigg Island masters who dominated with Brad Headling leading the charge, taking gold in the 45-49 Ironman, Surf and Board races, while clubmate Kate Mosel took gold in the 40-44 Iron and Board, along with silver in the Ski and Surf Race.

Sorrento’s Michael Booth had a strong showing taking gold in the 30-34 Ironman and Ski, and silver in the Board and Surf Races, helping his club make up some ground on Mullaloo following Saturday’s events.

Scarboro’s Warren Jones also enjoyed a successful outing with gold in the 55-59 Iron, Board, and Surf Race, and a silver in the Ski.

With the surf boats yet to come this weekend, the top of the podium is still up for grabs with both Mullaloo and North Cottesloe expected to make a strong showing.

Saturday afternoon saw the youth and open athletes take to the track and in the female arena it was the City of Perth beachies who dominated the points.

While Sydney Rafferty (Northcliffe) took the win in the Open Beach Sprint, the points went to City’s Imogen Herrington, with club mates Gabby Murphy and Jacqueline Lord rounding out the top three. They were then joined by Megan McCaffrey to claim further gold in the Open Beach Relay. Herrington finished out a successful weekend with five gold, including the U19 Flags and Sprint.

In fading light, the Open Flags top spot went to Murphy, with Rafferty in second, ahead of Charli Harrington (Quinns Mindarie) and City’s Mia Fraser.

In the Open Male arena, North Cottesloe reigned supreme with clubmates Matthew Lloyd & Tom Nolan taking gold and silver respectively in both the Beach Sprint and Flags, with fellow North Cott. member Tom Hodgkin rounding out the flags podium with third before they teamed up with Xavier Matier to take the Open Male Beach Relay.

In her first year in youth competition, congratulations to Trigg Island’s Macy Boisvert who claimed gold in the U14 Female Flags & Sprints. Also taking the double was Cottesloe’s Emma Atwell (U15), Quinns Mindarie’s Joel Shallue (U15) and Tana Wesley (U17), and Mullaloo’s Mitchell Eady (U19).

Saturday’s action wasn’t confined to just the sand, as nine clubs fielding teams from U15 to Open contested the First Aid events of the Lifesaving Championships with a range of scenarios testing their skills and adding to their clubs points tally.

Sunday saw fourteen of our country clubs battle it out in the SunSmart WA Country Championships. While the surf boats are yet to be contested, City of Bunbury, chasing their 29^th consecutive WA Country Championships title, appears to have an unassailable lead sitting on 1226 points, comfortably ahead of Secret Harbour on 343 and Albany on 256.

Significant contributors to this lead were Kiera Albertsen and James Duncan, both of whom dominated the Open Surf events claiming six gold apiece across individual and team events, while U17 Joel Doddy did more than his fair share for the Club taking home an impressive tally of nine gold, four silver & two bronze across U17 and Open, including gold in the Open Male Board Race.

City of Bunbury Nipper India Murphy (U12) also had a fantastic showing pocketing six gold and two bronze, while Albany’s Angus Bowles had a successful campaign with four gold, four silver, and one bronze across the Open and U19 events.

Our Youth & Open athletes will hit Scarborough Beach this Saturday & Sunday to contest the surf and surf boat events, while our Nippers will return to Trigg on the 18-19 March to close out their Championships.

Thank you to our surf sports partner Healthway, promoting the SunSmart message, and of course to the host of officials and referees and volunteers who made the weekend’s events possible.

Full results and club tallies can be found online at results.surftec.com.au/

Photo galleries to follow shortly.