WRAP: 2018 Australian Titles

Congratulations to all WA competitors that competed at the 2018 Australian Titles held at Scarborough Beach.

Over 8 days of competition across Youth, Masters and Open categories our athletes demonstrated that they can match it with the best from around Australia with a large haul of medals across all categories and disciplines.

In the Open Championships Jackson Symonds (Sorrento) gained entry to an exclusive club with his victory in the Open Beach Sprint. Jackson won his third straight title and in doing so became only the fourth man to win four titles overall and the first since Nick Yakich in 1965. Jackson faced an incredibly strong field including two-time champion Jordan Caldow (Currumbin) and former champion Jake Lynch (Newport).

Jackson Symonds (Sorrento SLSC). Picture via SLSA’s Facebook page

Not to be outdone, and demonstrating Sorrento’s depth of talent in the beach sprint events, Charlie Rigby won individual gold in the Male U19 Beach Sprint and team gold as a member of the U19 Beach Relay alongside teammates Sam Hodgkin, Caleb Paulus and Tai Kirkpatrick. Sydney Rafferty won individual bronze in the Female U17 Beach Sprint, gold with teammates Charley Rafferty, Amy Breman and Felicity Starcevich in the U17 Beach Relay and Bronze as a member of the U19 Beach Relay team. Sorrento also won silver in the Male U17 Beach Relay with Coogee Beach taking the Bronze.

Together with the sprints and beach relays, the first aid events were also contested at Trigg Beach. The City of Perth team of Katherine Schutze & Christine Burke took gold in the Open Mixed First Aid. City of Perth’s U/19 team of Ingrid Smith and Nathan Scott also did well winning the Silver Medal in their age group.

Simon Huitenga (City of Perth) demonstrated his mastery across the swim disciplines with Gold (Over 24 Restricted Surf Race), Bronze (Open Surf Race) and Bronze (2km Ocean Swim). Simon’s teammate Heidi Gan completed a strong carnival for City of Perth in the swim events with a silver in the Open 2km Ocean Swim.

Capping a successful Championships for City of Perth were performances by Thomas Gallagher with gold in the U19 Male Board Relay, alongside teammates Matthew Colliss and Riley Walker; bronze as a member of U19 Male Surf Team; and individual bronze in the U19 Male Ironman off the back of standout performances across the SLSWA Surf League and the SunSmart WA Surf Life Saving Championships.

In the board riding events Jarrad Davies (Cottesloe) dominated with wins in both the Open Male Surf Board Riding and Open Male Malibu Longboard events. Douglas Lewin (Trigg Island) was victorious in the U19 Male Surf Board Riding and also demonstrated his versatility with a silver in the U19 Double Ski event alongside teammate Devon Caren.

In the 2km Beach Run our female runners were dominant with gold to Scarboro’s Hannah Jones and silver to Albany’s Christine Murray in the U17s; gold to Sophie Hogan (North Cottesloe) in the U19s; and silver to Bernadette Williams and bronze to Maia Simmons (both Swanbourne Nedlands) in the Open division. The standout male 2km competitors were Nicholas Thompson (Cottesloe) with a silver in the U19 2km Beach Run and a bronze in the Open division together with Ben Hillen (Mullaloo) who got Bronze in the U17 2km Beach Run.

Reece Baker & Dan Humble (Trigg Island SLSC). Pic Courtesy of Community News

In the ski events Trigg Island veterans Reece Baker and Dan Humble continued their success on the national stage with gold in the Open Double Ski, silver as members of the Open Male Taplin Relay and silver in the Open Male Single Ski Relay along with teammate Todd Brewer. Brewer was narrowly beaten to the finish line by Manly’s Nick Dawe in a thrilling finish that had the crowd on their feet.

The only event contested on a stormy Sunday was the March Past. Trigg Island, Mullaloo and North Cottesloe took gold, silver and bronze respectively in the U17 Mixed March Past. Sorrento picked up a Silver in the U23’s and a Bronze in the Open division. Sorrento also took bronze in the Mixed 6 Person R&R.

For an overview of the action from the Youth events, read our full wrap here.

*Masters Results | Correction – Please note that our previously stated Masters Club placings were incorrect. Trigg Island SLSC finished in 2nd place on 247 points, followed by North Cottesloe SLSC on 239 points. Bondi SLSC took out the overall win on 408 points. We apologise for the error!

For full results visit the SLSA website.