My Beach

The Western Suns Ocean/Beach Interstate squad has come away with third place after a hard-fought competition at the 2020 SLSA Interstates Championship on the Sunshine Coast.

New South Wales made it a three-peat, claiming the Interstates title with 251 points, ahead of Queensland (245) and our Western Suns (167).

With some of the nation’s best competitors flying the flag for their state in events such as the Ironman/Ironwoman, Board, Surf Ski, Beach Flags and various relay events, spectators and those tuning in on Facebook via the live stream were treated to a masterclass in surf sports competition.

The stand out individual performance of the day came from Charlie Rigby (Sorrento), who accelerated off the mark to come first in the Open Male Beach Sprint. WA also applied their Power Play to Charlie for the event, resulting in double points (12pts) allocated to the Western Suns tally.

 

A strong team, comprised of Australian Lifesaving Team member Jake Smith (Trigg Island), Max Anderson Loake (City of Perth), Western Suns Captain Dan Humble (Trigg Island) & Charlie Rigby, also picked up a gold in the Open Male Rescue Tube Rescue; an event that brings surf sports back to the roots of surf life saving. 

In true Western Suns style, both the open and youth athletes gave it their all during competition, while displaying their trademark sportsmanship.

There were countless brilliant performances from both the open and youth competitors on the day, with a few nail-biting finishes thrown in the mix.

Australian Beach Sprint champion Jackson Symonds (Sorrento) secured a silver medal after battling it out with NSW in the final for the Open Male Beach Flags.

Reigning WA Open Ironman champion Will Savage (Trigg Island) secured bronze in the Youth Ironman, with Matt Colliss (City of Perth) not far behind in sixth. Will also placed sixth in the Youth Male Surf Race.

Sorrento youth pocket-rocket Cristian Sayers had a great day, picking up a silver medal in the Youth Male Beach Flags and a fourth place in the Youth Male Beach Sprint.

Wes Gould (Mullaloo) battled for bronze in the Open Male Ski Race, while he & Max Anderson-Loake gave it their all in the Open Ironman, finishing in fourth and fifth respectively. Max also brought in points with a fifth place in the Open Male Surf Race.

Jacqueline Lord (City of Perth) picked up a bronze in the Open Female Beach Sprint, while in the Youth Female Beach Sprint, Sydney Rafferty (Sorrento) placed fifth.

Trigg Island’s Patrick Eley is definitely a competitor to watch, taking out silver in the Youth Male Board race, as well as placing fourth in the Youth Male Ski Race.

In the Youth Female Ski Race, Harriet Brown (North Cottesloe) secured points for WA with fourth-place, while Nikita Fredonnet (City of Perth) proved she is an athlete to watch out for in the future with a fifth-place finish in the Youth Female Board Race, a sixth-place finish in the Youth Ironwoman and a seventh-place in the Youth Female Ski Race.

The Open Female Surf Race had Ruby Warne (Trigg Island) finish in fourth and Soraya Lee (Mullaloo) finish up in sixth, just behind the Queensland and New South Wales Country (NSWC) competitors.

In the relays, WA secured four silvers (Open Mixed Ski Relay, Youth Mixed Board Relay, Open Male Beach Relay & Youth Male Beach Relay) and four bronze finishes (Youth Mixed Ski Relay, Open Mixed Board Relay, Youth Female Beach Relay & Youth Male Taplin Relay).

The Western Suns also brought home silver in the Open Male Board Rescue and bronze in the Youth Male Board Rescue.

Thank you Western Suns official apparel partner, Engine Swim, for always kitting out our teams with the best gear and uniforms.

Full results available here.

Overall Point Score

NSW 251
QLD 245
WA 167
NSWC 125
SA 122
VIC 103

Open Point Score

NSW 122
QLD 121
WA 85
NSWC 67
SA 60
VIC 51

Youth Point Score

NSW 129
QLD 124
WA 82
NSWC 62
SA 58
VIC 52

Photos courtesy of Harvpix