Aussies this year was held at North Kirra and Bilinga SLSC for the Youth, Masters, Surf Boats and Lifesaving events. Freak weather events called off any water events for the first day of the event (Saturday 29 March) which impacted our Youth competitors and Masters Lifesaving competitors. Contingency plans were initiated with a program shift and all water events resuming on Sunday 30 March. There was not much sunshine and plenty of rain over the course of the week!
For our Youth cohort we had Harvey Collins (U14) and Milli Crofton (U13) pull on the club cap in individual water events. Special shout out to Milli for making it to the Semi Finals of the Board event. Due to the postponement of the Ocean Swim, our competitors were not able to do the event.
Our lifesaving competitors once again had some tough competitions. For those not familiar, you need to quality to get a start at Aussies for Champion lifesaver, First Aid and Patrol Competition. This season we had 14 qualified to start which is a great achievement. Special congratulations are for Shannon Job and Deb Foote who both won Gold in their respective age groups for Champion Lifesaver and for Sarah Lally (Bronze) and Clare Freakley (Silver). In our Youth cohort we had Zach Gibbeson qualify for Champ Lifesaver and finished with an impressive 7th in U14. It was a great opportunity also for Adam Traugott, NS member competing alongside the north Steyne crew as the only competitor from the Northern Territory
For our First Aid cohort, Kyra and Lachie placed in 4th for Open First Aid; their best result at Aussies. Such a huge achievement. And to our two fabulous U15 First Aid teams, the Stars (Pearl Brown; Jade Kwan) and the Mermaids (Cassandre Dequidt; Emma Greenhalgh) your performance this season is nothing short of amazing. You have all put in the hours and hard work in a very short period under the support of Kyra to excel in State and also on a National stage. Congrats to the Stars for placing third and Mermaids for Placing 5th. It should be noted that two teams were the top two in NSW also and also competing up an age group.
Our Masters competitors had some fun in the swell and on the sand. It was great to see Craig Shadbolt make the finals for the beach sprint in a very competitive field. Well done to Erin and Shannon for their performance in the 2km sand run both finishing 6th. The North Steyne Angels entered the Taplin, board relay and board rescue with some tough competition (including Olympians) the main goal to reach the Board Rescue Final was achieved!
Down the beach we had the Old Gold 240yr Male Crew have a phenomenal 3 rounds to make it to the finals. The ocean gods threw them a challenging set and finished off in 5th overall. The Old Gold crew have put in some long training hours and lots of time in the boat for their campaign this year and we are very proud of their performance. Special thanks to Burgo for coaching them and Giggo for sweeping them safely every race!
Special thanks to our two officials, Joe Mastrangelo Jnr and Keith Abraham for making the trip up to North and always, without even asking, to make sure North Steyne have their official quota met. To the fabulous support crew who help us get our gear around the place, be our patient, goggle holder, coffee delivery person – none of this is possible without you all! It is a true team effort to get us to the start line and to pull on the black and gold caps. THANK YOU
