WOW – what a time we had on the Sunshine Coast for Aussies. It was a jam-packed week with competiton spanning 3 beaches – Maroochydore, Alexandra Headland and Mooloolaba.
The event was very well organised with the planners leaving nothing to chance – even supplying shuttle buses for competitors, officials and spectators for easy transport to the competition areas.
It was definitely an exceptional experience for those who were fortunate enough to attend.
Semaphore was represented by 70 members – 19 of which were competitors in Youth, U17, Open, Masters and Boats.
Our week started on the Saturday with the Youth competition. A big shout out to Josh who was our only competitor in this group. Josh faced the toughest conditions of the whole week (except for the final day) and set the scene for a great week for everyone else. Well done on all of his efforts but especially for finishing in the top 20 for the 2k run.
Sean and Nic both competed in Champ Lifesaver (as they won Gold in the State competition) with Nic finishing 6th in the U17s and Sean finishing 5th in the Open.
Our U17s – Nic, Danny, Sam and Cooper competed in a range of events – surf team, board rescue, taplin, ski relay, board relay (this all on the first day!), ski, board, 2krun, ironman, belt race, and swim.
Some highlights of the U17s:
– the surf team of all 4 boys finished 8th in their swim team heat (the top 6 were taken through to the quarter finals)
– Danny finished 8th in his ski heat and made it through to Round 2
– Nic in his heats finished 9th in the board, 9th in the ironman, 5th in the belt race, 17th in the swim – ALL of which left him just ONE spot away from progressing to the next stage
– Cooper finished 27th in the 2k run and was the only U17 to compete in a beach event
– Danny finished 10th in the swim progressing to the quarter finals
– Sam supported another SA club – Henley by helping them fill a board relay team
Sean was our only Open competitor and competed in the restricted surf race – finishing 16th in the final, board rescue (with Nic) – finishing 5th; just missing out going through to the next round and the board – finishing 16th in his heat. A solid effort considering he was up against some all to familiar names in the surf lifesaving world.
Aaron was our one and only Masters competitor making a stellar effort in the flags. No – he didn’t get any but at least he was there and had a go!!
The Boaties:
After a couple of warm up rows on the Saturday that ultimately served to wash the red dust from the boat and remind us of the power of a shore dump, the carnival started well for Semaphore.
We had the TROGS (220s), JACCOS (160s and Reserve grade) and our Motley Crew (U19 Men) all competing.
The TROGS gained excellent experience in their division completing all three rows in the round robin, with good starts and turns, and everybody staying in the Boat!
The Jaccos were highly competitive in the 160s and Reserve grade. They were very unlucky with the waves coming over the finish line, just missing out on the cuts for both divisions.
Fantastic effort by the Motley Crew who hit a phenomenal wave out on their first race and did well in the three race round robin to make it into the first elimination round. Unfortunately we ran out of legs on the day.
A great experience for all that attended where a lot was learnt ready for us to refine our skills for next season.
From the whole Aussies Touring Party huge thanks go out to:
– Kirsty for keeping track of the boat races and ensuring all were in the right spot at the right time,
– Johnno and Weiry for driving a loaded club ute up and towing the board/ski trailer back. Thanks also to Johnno for doing the boat bearings
– Craig for towing the board/ski trailer to the Sunshine Coast
– Kerry for doing ALL of the nominations
– Pat for all of his support on the beach
– Shannon, Paige, Bryana and Zoe for supporting all of the competitors every day on the beach and for handling when required
– Cathy and Vicki for taking so many amazing photos
– Damian for shopping for and preparing and cooking an amazing dinner for the whole crew
– Neil, Steve and Mick for the water cover (we felt safe!!!!)
– Glenelg, Henley, Somerton and Christies Beach for great comradery on the beach and supporting SA as a whole
and last but not least:
– Ailsa (Hilary) for the amazing organisation of the whole event for our club. A fantastic effort without which our week would not have been so successful!!
