LEGEND HENDY BACK IN BUSINESS

March 17, 2012: It was business as usual when surf lifesaving legend Trevor Hendy returned to ironman competition at the 2012 Crazy John's Queensland State Championships at Kurrawa today.

Aged 43, the six-time Australian ironman champion proved that class is permanent when he cruised into second place in his heat to qualify for tomorrow's semi-finals.

More than a decade since his last serious races and 18 years after his last Australian title, Hendy lined up against two of the young guns of the sport, Mooloolaba's Ali Day and Australian under-18 champion Tanyn
Lyndon, as well as Kellogg's Nutri-Grain series winner Caine Eckstein.

But you wouldn't have known he was giving away more than two decades to some of his rivals as he ran out for the opening swim leg and returned to the beach in a familiar position - first.

Hendy shared the lead with Lyndon at the end of the board leg and then kept close to the front in the ski leg before a burst of speed up the beach saw him edge past Day at the finish to take second behind Lyndon.

Eckstein was also a comfortable qualifier for thesemi-finals.

As good as he looked, Hendy said he didn't feel quite as happy as he stood on the start line.

"I wasn't nervous but I just didn't feel good," he said.

"I've been very busy for the last couple of weeks and maybe I'm just a bit run down.

"Everything felt OK while I was racing but I just don't feel so good.

"Still, that's the big one out of the way for today and my
board and ski are going well so we'll see how it goes tomorrow."

Hendy's return from retirement has been sparked by 16-year-old son TJ's growing involvement in surf lifesaving and the pair teamed up in the open board rescue heats this afternoon.

With Dad swimming to the buoys, TJ paddled the board to rescue him but they were only able to finish fifth and out of the qualifiers for the semi-finals.

Hendy also teamed with Surfers Paradise clubmates Leon Zagel and Zachary Orchard to place fourth in the board relay final won by the Mooloolaba team of Ali Day, Cameron Cole and Dane  Windshuttle.

Along with Hendy, all the big names comfortably qualified for the ironman semi-finals, including Australian champion Shannon Eckstein, defending Queensland champion Ky Hurst and two-time Australian champion Pierce Leonard.

In other events, Northcliffe's Cory Hill, Shannon Eckstein and Tate Smith teamed to win the open ski relay. The result was a bonus for Hill who stepped in for injured clubmate Zane Holmes who is out of action with a back injury that required an operation this week.

Northcliffe also won the women's ski relay with the team of Courtney Hancock, Elizabeth Pluimers and Kristyl Smith during a typically successful day for the club's open female competitors.

The same trio won the board relay, Hancock and her sister Bonnie won the board rescue, Smith and Kelly Jury won the double ski and Jessica Walker won the belt race.

Pluimers won another gold medal with Tate Smith in the open mixed double ski and Cory Hill and Dev Lahey won the men's open board rescue.

The most heart-warming result of the day involved another Northcliffe team, when Jordan Hart and Matthew Sharp won the under-19 board rescue. Hart has fought through two bouts of Hodgkins lymphoma and only finished radiotherapy treatment last November.

Sunshine Coast speedster Max Belcher had an outstanding day to claim three relay gold medals. Belcher was part Mooloolaba's winning teams in the open, under-19 and under-17 beach relays.

Also on the sand, Burleigh Heads Mowbray Park runners had a good day in the 2km beach runs, with Isabel Lund winning the girls' under-15 race, Cooper McKenzie the boys' under-15 and Brooke Eacott the girls' under-17

BHMP also struck gold through Miranda Davies in the under-19 ironwoman final.

Noosa Heads' Jordan Mercer won double gold, starting the day with victory in the under-19 2km beach run and then teaming with James Porter to take out the under-19 mixed double ski.

Noosa also won gold with a team featuring another famous name when Jett Kenny, son of ironman hero Grant, paddled to gold in the under-17 ski relay alongside Lincoln Dews and Mackenzie Hynard.

Centuries ago vikings tamed the sea in their boats and the Currumbin Beach Vikings showed similar skills today to win the boat relay ahead of Alexandra Headland and Northcliffe.

The Crazy John's Queensland State Championships conclude at Kurrawa tomorrow, with the open ironman and ironwoman semi-finals to be contested in the morning and the finals scheduled for 2pm (women) and 2.20pm
(men).

Day 1 Results: Crazy Johns Queensland State Surf Life Saving Championships

Women:

Open  2km Beach Run: Alyce McKenzie (Northcliffe) April Zekulich (Kurrawa) Georgia Craig (Tallebudgera)

Open  Beach Relay: Kurrawa A (Catherine Donaldson, Kelly McDonnell, Melissa Howard, Tegan Maffescioni) Currumbin A (Alee Whiteman, Regan Whiteman, Sophie Hoffmann, Tara Hawking) Mooloolaba A
(Evangeline Keevil, Hanna Gale, Kristy Knox, Madison Schuck)

Open  Board Relay: Northcliffe A (Courtney Hancock, Elizabeth Pluimers, Kristyl Smith) North Burleigh A (Alyce Bennett, Brodie Moir, Olivia Hall) Mooloolaba A (Allira Richardson, Kelly-Ann Perkins, Nicole Chapman)

Open  Board Rescue: Northcliffe A (Bonnie Hancock, Courtney Hancock) Metropolitan Caloundra A (Rebecca Creedy, Stephanie Cronin) Kurrawa B (Hayley Bateup, Samantha Johnston)

Open  Double Ski: Northcliffe B (Kelly Jury, Kristyl Smith) Northcliffe A (Elizabeth Pluimers, Kirsty Holmes) Northcliffe C (Bonnie Hancock, Casey Leo-Litzow)

Open  Rescue Tube Rescue: Maroochydore A:  Cathy Pegg, Jean Harris, Miranda Bell, Phoebe Tessmann) Northcliffe A (Bonnie Hancock, Jessica Walker, Kathryn McKenzie, Kelly Jury) Northcliffe B (Christina
Ruiz, Katherine Jongebloed, Kirsty Waugh, Sharlene Kelly)

Open  Ski Relay: Northcliffe A: (Courtney Hancock, Elizabeth Pluimers, Kristyl Smith) Northcliffe B (Casey Leo-Litzow, Kelly Jury, Kirsty Holmes) Mooloolaba A (Allira Richardson, Kelly-Ann Perkins, Nicole Chapman)

Open  Surf Belt: Northcliffe A (David Shields, Jessica Walker, Mark Williams, Stephen Fry, Tanyn Lyndon) Alexandra Headland A (Alicia Kirk, Graeme McIntyre, Peter Green, Ty Robertson, Vincent Jason) Maroochydore A (Harry Pegg, Jameson Mills, Miranda Bell, Ralph Devlin, Steven Short)

Open  km Beach Run: Andrew Grimshaw (Kurrawa) Daniel Coleman (Northcliffe) Craig Pascoe (Southport)

U-19  Beach Flags: Brooke Grono (North Burleigh) Tarren Forsyth (Tugun) Jacqui Craig (Tannum Sands)

U-19  Beach Relay: Southport A (Christine Obermeier, Georgia Jenkins, Grace Wilkins, Kaitlin Smith) Tweed Heads Coolangatta A (Angie Piper, Demi Meredith, Elsie Rampling, Erin McNamara) Northcliffe A (Christina Ruiz, Courtney Innes, Katherine Jongebloed, Kirsty Waugh)

U-19  Board Relay: Mooloolaba A (Bronte Hartland, Clare Harris, Madison Blackburn) North Burleigh A (Gabriella Keid, Hayley Lemarseny, Olivia Hall) Burleigh Heads Mowbray Park (Ashleigh Meuwissen, Bree Mullen, Miranda Davies)

U-19  Board Rescue: Currumbin A (Brooke Neumann, Riley Maynard) North Burleigh A (Hayley Lemarseny, Olivia Hall) Sunshine Beach A (Charlotte Nolan, Molly Redwood)

U-19  Rescue Tube Rescue Northcliffe B (Christina Ruiz, Dorine Pantacchini, Katherine Jongebloed, Kirsty Waugh) Maroochydore A  (Alisha Ellwood, Cathy Pegg, Dahlas Rogers, Rebecca Pegg) Sunshine Beach
A  (Alexandra Nolan, Charlotte Nolan, Eilish Fahey, Molly Redwood)

U-19 Ironwoman: Miranda Davies (Burleigh Heads Mowbray Park) Ann Glen (Metropolitan Caloundra) Gabriella Keid (North Burleigh)

U-17  km Beach Run: Brooke Eacott (Burleigh Heads Mowbray Park) Courtney Innes (Northcliffe) Caitlin Gilliman (Dicky Beach)

U-17  Beach Flags: Rohani Bakhach (Noosa Heads) Elizabeth Forsyth (Tugun) Tamika Gillett (Kurrawa)

U-17  Beach Relay: Tugun A (Caitlin Butler, Elizabeth Forsyth, Laura Anderson, Sarah Geddy) Southport A (Christine Obermeier, Georgia Jenkins, Grace Wilkins, Kaitlin Smith) Currumbin A (Emily Ross, Krystal Hardin, Madison Hoffmann, Regan Whiteman)

U-17  Board Relay: Mooloolaba A (Ella Brown, Maddy Dunn, Teisha Jenkins) Northcliffe A (Abby Clarke, Alana McGoldrick, Courtney Pierce) Burleigh Heads Mowbray Park (Ashleigh Meuwissen, Brooke Eacott,
Rachel Barker)

U-15  km Beach Run: Isabel Lund (burleigh Heads Mowbray Park)wbray Park) Ainslie Bakker (Lennox Head Alstonville) Simone Van Eck (Kurrawa)

U-15  Beach Relay: Noosa Heads A (Brittany Cashman, Danielle Sjogren, Nicola Baxter, Pip Valstar) Currumbin A (Amber Pilley, Chandler Searle, Emily Milnes, Jessica Waller) Dicky Beach A (Brooke Waugh, Jordyn Barakin, Morgan Beasley, Summer McGladrigan)

U-15  Board Relay: Maroochydore A (April Martin, Bri Massie, Georgina McDermott) Noosa Heads A (Nicola Baxter, Peggy Harris, Romy Turner) Northcliffe B (Ami Dowling, Grace Rosato, Nicole Sharp)

MEN:

Open  Beach Relay: Mooloolaba B (Chase Young, Conor Loughnan, Max Belcher, Patrick Box) Kurrawa A (Ben Mitchell, Benjamin Mispelhorn, Jake Mispelhorn, Simon Harris) Elliott Heads A

Open  Board Relay: Mooloolaba A (Alistair Day, Cameron Cole, Dane Windshuttle) Currumbin B (Jackson Maynard, Jayden Jensen, Samuel Gill) North Burleigh B (Cameron Ward, Campbell McDonald, Pierce Leonard)

Open  Board Rescue: Northcliffe A (Cory Hill, Dev Lahey) Metropolitan Caloundra A (Cameron Smith, Corey Jones) Currumbin A (Jackson Maynard, Marc O'Brien)

Open  Ski Relay: Northcliffe A (Cory Hill, Shannon Eckstein, Tate Smith) North Burleigh D (James Stewart, Mitchell Miller, Thomas Trembath) Mooloolaba D (Alexander Tibbits, Cameron Cole, Matt Bevilacqua)

Open Surf Boat Relay: Currumbin A  Alexandra Headland A Northcliffe A              

U-19 Double Ski: Northcliffe A (Daniel Booth, Jake Nicholson) Noosa Heads A (Andrew Widdicombe, James Porter) Alexandra Headland C (Bradley Doughan, Lachlan McKenna)

U-19  km Beach Run: Jordan Mercer (Noosa Heads) Harriet Smith (Noosa Heads) Rebecca Pegg (Maroochydore)

U-19  km Beach Run: Patrick Hagan (Point Lookout) Garry Doyle (Coolangatta) Brendan Donahoo (Maroochydore)

U-19  Beach Flags: Reid Sierp (Alexandra Headland) Patrick Box (Mooloolaba) Bradley Boyd (Burleigh Heads Mowbray Park)

U-19  Beach Relay: Mooloolaba A (Conor Loughnan, Joshua Bates, Max Belcher, Patrick Box) Elliott Heads A (Brandon Harvey, Braydon Batt, Christopher Powell, Daniel Crook) Currumbin A(Jarrod Ross, Ryan Schmidt, Samuel Dick, Waka Stratton)

U-19  Board Relay: Northcliffe A (Callum Booth, Daniel Booth, Jake Nicholson) Alexandra Headland A (Lachlan McKenna, Samuel
Bull, Shane McMahon) Noosa Heads A (Andrew Widdicombe, James Porter, Sean
Hayes) North Burleigh A (Campbell McDonald, Joshua Crouch, Mitchell Miller)

U-19  Board Rescue: Northcliffe D (Jordan Hart, Matthew Sharp) North Burleigh A (Campbell McDonald, Mitchell Miller) Southport A  (Brodie Gentle, Shannon Dring)

U-19  Rescue Tube Rescue: Northcliffe A (Callum Booth, Daniel Booth, Jake Nicholson, Stewart Duffy) Noosa Heads A (Andrew Widdicombe, James Porter, Samuel Bell, Sean Hayes) Surfers Paradise A (Danny Pointing, Jaeden Sasaki, Jake Clutterbuck, Tyrnne Hoskins)

U-19 Ski Relay: Noosa Heads A (Andrew Widdicombe, James Porter, Mackenzie Hynard) Mooloolaba A (Hayden Williams, Jayden Bailey, Ryan Paroz) Byron Bay A (Alex Burns, Sean Pattison, Tom  Burns)

U-19 Surf Belt: Kurrawa A (Kevin Jeffery, Luke Cuff, Mandy Hanmer, Peter Winton, Roderick Mcivor) Noosa Heads A(Darren Mercer OAM, Geoffrey Dews, Grant Kenny O.A.M., Sam Keelan, Samuel Bell)
Coolangatta A (Garry Doyle, Nicholas Bell, Russell Zahn, Ryan Rigney, Stuart
Hogben)

U-17  km Beach Run: Daniel Coleman (Northcliffe) Kye Maroney (Alexandra Headland) Lachlan Pascoe (Southport)

U-17  Beach Flags: Braydon Batt (Elliott Heads) Christopher Powell (Elliott Heads) Samuel Dick (Currumbin)

U-17  Beach Relay: Mooloolaba A (Benjamin Gough, Hayden Williams, Max Belcher, Ted Belcher) Burleigh Heads Mowbray Park  (Adam Gauder, Dylan Mathers, Jeremy Stephens, Matthew Reimer) North Burleigh A
(Ben Pearce, Joshua Elliott, Neil Muller, Thomas Stevenson)

U-17  Board Relay: Kurrawa A (Joseph Lindsay, Nathaniel Lindsay, Tyler Partland) Mooloolaba A (Fletcher Reilly, Jaega Desainis, Kieren Cooke) Noosa Heads A (Jett Kenny, Lincoln Dews, Mackenzie Hynard)

U-17 Ski Relay: Noosa Heads A Jett Kenny, Lincoln Dews, Mackenzie Hynard) Mooloolaba A (Hayden Williams, Jaega Desainis, Ryan Paroz) Mermaid Beach A (Alexander Mackenzie - Templar, James Lacy, Samuel Dick)

U-17 Surf Belt: Kurrawa A (Andrew Parry, Kevin Jeffery, Peter Winton, Roderick Mcivor, Tyler Partland) Northcliffe A (Adam Jones, Bruce Kolkka, Christopher Pena, Lachlan Feather, Mark Williams Northcliffe B (Andrew Moore, Damien Moffrey, David Shields, Nick Rosato, Stefaan Demopoulos)

U-15  km Beach Run: Cooper McKenzie (burleigh Heads Mowbray Park) Connor Dougherty  (Tallebudgera) Kyle Rapallo (Palm Beach (QLD)

U-15  Beach Relay: Currumbin A (Brandan Halliday-Thompson, Matthew Kelly, Samuel Ross, Timothy Delahunty) Kurrawa A
(Brandon McMahon, Kyle Torok, Lewis Huckstep, Sam Mispelhorn) Mooloolaba A (Cody Redjeb, Harrison Kerr, Jason Gough, Johnnie Ratcliff)

U-15  Board Relay: Currumbin A (Joshua Clouston, Matthew Kelly, Shaun Collins) Alexandra Headland A (Joshua
Collis, Nikolas Green, Scott Sinclair) Maroochydore A (Joshua Woollett, Mark Thompson, Matthew Barclay)

Mixed:

Open Double Ski: Northcliffe B (Elizabeth Pluimers, Tate Smith) North Burleigh B (Mitchell Young, Sheree Merryfull) North Burleigh A (Brodie Moir, Michael Murray)

U-19 Double Ski: Noosa Heads A(James Porter, Jordan Mercer) Surfers Paradise A (Peta Newbold, Zachary Orchard) Northcliffe A (Dorine Pantacchini, Jake Nicholson)

Progressive Club Pointscore:  Northcliffe 229 Mooloolaba 116 Noosa Heads 81.5 North Burleigh 75.5 Currumbin 71 Kurrawa 71 Burleigh Heads Mowbray Park 51Alexandra Headland 49 Maroochydore 44 Southport 30