Senior States Report

Senior States have been completed again for another year, with it being held over three days. Day 1 at Port Noarlunga saw board rescue, belt swims, 2km and iron person and swim team heats for youth competitors.

Days two and three were run at Moana the following weekend and saw the completion of the remainder of the events in perfect weather conditions and a small swell. This year we had a small team that focused on quality over quantity. All our competitors either cleaned up with their results or made huge improvements over the season.

Naish, Cooper, Chloe and Clarice all made huge improvements and should be knocking on the door of some good results if they keep their consistent training up. Naish moves up to U17s next year and will have the opportunity to help the older seniors in teams next season as well.

As usual, Teagan Richards and Ella Andrews dominated their events, with Teagan winning the U15 board race and iron, pairing up with Ella to win the youth girls board rescue, getting silver in the 2km run, and Cameron relay with Ella, Clarice and Chloe, and she also picked up bronze in the swim and board relay with Ella and Clarice in a close race, with less than 5m separating 1^st-3^rd. Along with the team events, Ella also picked up silver in the Swim and bronze in the iron and 2km run. Naish, Clarice and Chloe finished mid race for all their races, often running over the top of other competitors in the second half of races, showing that their training throughout the season paid off.

In the older years, Cooper missed out on the U17 and Open board finals by one position. An average start in the U17 board semi left him with too much work to do and couldn’t run enough competitors down. However, he only just missed the open board final, which was impressive for a first year U17. He also finished mid field in his iron and swims, with strong performances in each event. Nic made the open board final, but turned the buoys about 7 competitors wide, leaving him not in the best position to run over the top of a very strong field. He also finished 8^th in the iron, which is impressive considering he hasn’t had the opportunity to swim consistently due to other training commitments.

Nic and Sean paired up in the double ski and managed a 6^th in a very competitive and large field of 19 double skis. The two of them teamed up with Cooper to finish 7^th in the open board relay.

In the next couple of weeks, Teagan, Ella and Nic will be heading up to the Australian titles on the Gold Coast, we wish them all the best and will be following closely at home.

Finally, I would like to thank all our officials that helped out over the season, especially Raelene who has shouldered almost all of our senior officiating duties this season, and we were helped out at state titles by Steve Harris. We wouldn’t be able to be on the beach without our officials and the work they do. Thankyou to Jane Short for taking these amazing photos. It is really appreciated. Thankyou to the parents for bringing the kids to training and carnivals, as well as helping out towing the trailers, and organising the beach while I’m in different areas. A big thankyou to Nic Schulz who has been a big help at trainings this season. There have been many occasions where I haven’t been able to make it to training due to work commitments, but Nic has kept trainings moving forward.

Sean McKenzie