Tugun Beach Under Review Following Gold Coast Storms

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Surf Life Saving Australia, March 1, 2013: North Kirra remains the main venue for this year’s Australian Surf Life Saving Championships although Tugun Beach is currently under review due to the recent and further forecasted extreme weather conditions for the Gold Coast it was announced at today’s official of the 2013 Aussies at North Kirra.

The Championships are due to be shared this year between Gold Coast host clubs North Kirra and Tugun from April 15 to 21 with Tugun set to host the boat events from Masters to Under 19s, Under 23s, Women’s, Reserve Grade and Open A Grade.
Dave Thompson, SLSA’s General Manager for Surf Sports said today that a final decision regarding Tugun will be made in mid to late March.

Mr Thompson was on the Gold Coast earlier in the week for another inspection of the venues and will continue to closely monitor the beaches and report to the Carnival Organising Committee who will then consider any possible venue change.

At the helm : Currumbin MP Jann Stuckey with (L-R) Michelle Gaffney (Tugun), Bruce Zillman (Tugun), Anne Bassingthwaite (Tugun), Dev Lahey (Northcliffe), Tom Melloy (Tugun), Liz Pluimers (North Burleigh).

“There’s no doubt, Tugun is one of the heavily impacted beaches and with that, raises means to bring both internal and external lifesaving, sport, risk assessment and events experts – as well as council representatives together to consider the impact this is going to have on their hosting of the Australian Championships Surf Boat Competition,” Mr Thompson said.

“Whilst initial meetings have taken place this week on the Gold Coast between SLSA and the Council, a structured group of professionals will convene here on the Gold Coast to make a decision in regards to the final location of the Surf Boat competition in mid to late March.

“We’re trying to give as much time as possible for the beach at Tugun to fully rejuvenate before a decision is made.
“At this stage, it is our belief that North Kirra is safe to go ahead in hosting the championships as planned.
“We do have contingencies in place, however any potential contingency is yet to be determined with extreme coastal weather still forecasted.”
The 2013 Championships will see the Australian Masters staged over two days on April 15 and 16 with the carnival proper starting on Wednesday, April 17 and culminating in finals day on Sunday, April 21.
“Since last year, a number of safety measures have been considered, some revised and some new implemented by both internal Surf Life Saving members along with external experts and professionals,” said Mr Thompson

“The revised and new safety measures that are in place for this year’s event are in line with SLSA's Event Risk Management Practices and we are pleased that these have been accepted by the race competitors.

“The decision to make high visibility vests compulsory for all athletes at all of our national events is one that we believe, will make our events safer for all involved.

“Surf Life Saving Australia is, and will always be, committed to maintaining and improving water safety and event safety for all its members, beach goers and the general community.

“Every year, we save over 15,000 lives on Australian beaches and out safety record in serving the community is something on which we pride ourselves.

“The theme of this year’s event is One movement, One Passion - bringing to life the essence of the Aussies which is about all different backgrounds, clubs, competitors and volunteers coming together to celebrate the Surf Life Saving movement.”
The Aussies will cater for competitors from all over Australia and overseas from Under 15s to Masters and in all events from beach sprints and flags to craft, swimming and lifesaving events, including the prestigious Ironman and Ironwoman and boat events as well as the traditional R and R, surf belt and March Past.
The Surf Lifesaving Sports Standing Committee has also approved several pointscore categories and Special Events for the 2013 Australian Surf Life Saving Club Championships. These include:

(1)   Handicap Champion Club
(2)   Under 15 years Champion Club
(3)   Under 17 years Champion Club
(4)   Under 19 years Champion Club and;
(5)   Open Champion Club

There will now be three memorial trophies awarded:
(1)   Robert Gatenby Memorial awarded for the winner of the Under 19 Surf Boat
(2)   The Saxon Bird Memorial Trophy awarded for the Under 19 Ironman and;
(3)   The Matthew Barclay Memorial Trophy awarded for the Under 15 Ironman.
Much attention will again centre around the Ironman and Ironwoman events – the major highlights of Sunday’s finals day at North Kirra.
The big questions are can Northcliffe’s Shannon Eckstein defend his Australian crown and add Ironman title number six as he hunts down all-time great Trevor Hendy with seven and will former Commonwealth Games swimmer Rebecca Creedy hold out a host of stars and defend her crown?
Organisers are expecting over 7000 competitors from over 220 clubs who will compete for 300 medals – with the champions awarded the precious Aussie gold.
“The Aussies remains one of Australia’s iconic sporting events open to competitors aged 15 to our oldest masters who still line up at 75 years of age,” said Mr Thompson.
“It is every lifesavers dream to compete at the Aussies and it is such an attraction that our greatest ever competitors keep on coming back.
“Competitors like Trevor Hendy, who made a comeback to open competition last season is a classic example of just what great lifesavers, great competitors and great Australians this organisation continues to produce.
“To race at the Aussies is one thing, to win a medal is a great achievement but to win a gold medal is something that is cherished by thousands of competitors who have achieved that honour since our first major championships back at Bondi in 1915.
“It is important to note that in 2015 we will be celebrating a century of surf sports in Australia so the build up to that milestone over the next two seasons will be very exciting in deed.”
For more information, visit http://www.sls.com.au/aussies To find out more about this and other great events on the Queensland Events Calendar visit www.eventsqld.com.au

ASRL-SLSA JOINT STATEMENT RE TUGUN REVIEW

The Australian Surf Rowers League (ASRL) has been in regular contact with Surf Life Saving Australia (SLSA) regarding the current state of the Gold Coast beaches. As everybody would understand extreme weather events like this have been happening right along the east coast is outside of SLSA’s ability to control.

A watching brief has been taking place at Tugun as well as other Gold Coast beaches along with regular measuring of the width of the available usable sand area.

A meeting was conducted this week by key representatives from Gold City Council (GCCC), ASRL, SLSA and the Australian Surf Lifesaving Championship Boat Deputy Referee, to review the Tugun Beach and it's suitability to host the Surfboats for the Australian Titles.

Due to the recent weather conditions, beach erosion and additional forecasted extreme weather conditions on the Gold Coast, the GCCC have public safety issues and infrastructure concerns with the current conditions of the beach. At this stage due to these concerns the GCCC has not issued a permit to SLSA for use of the beach.

SLSA need to conduct a full risk assessment of the venue which includes both front and back of beach and provide confidence that the Boat Championships can be conducted safely and effectively at Tugun ensuring that all Council Safety and operational guidelines and criteria are met.

SLSA in conjunction with the ASRL will monitor the beach restoration very closely in coming weeks, and will attempt to ensure that there is sufficient time to prepare the venue for the Surf Boat Championships at either Tugun and or an alternative site. Many contractual issues come into play for such an event and some simply can’t be avoided.

It is anticipated that a decision will be made prior to March 22nd 2013. The ASRL has every confidence that SLSA and the GCCC is working very hard to keep this event at Tugun as planned and it will only be shifted if outside circumstances continue to stack up against us of requirements around Council regulations can’t be met.

Competitor Profiles

Elizabeth Pluimers
Club: North Burleigh
Age: 25

Profile: Prolific Aussies gold medallist who has chalked up 20 National titles with the Northcliffe Club before transferring to North Burleigh this season. Has won two individual board titles i9n 2008 and 2011 as well as gold in the Surf Teams (four); Taplin Relay (five); Board Relay (three) and Board Rescue (two) as well as in the Under 19 Ironwoman, Taplin, Board and Board Relay. An outstanding Ironwoman and two-time National Series winner and defending champion who sat out this year’s Telstra Series after taking an overseas break. Will bolster an already strong North Burleigh girls group that includes Coolangatta Gold and World Ironwoman Champion Brodie Moir and leading Ironwoman Alyce Bennett.

Dev Lahey
Club: Northcliffe SLSC
Age: 22

Profile: The reigning World Surf Race champion who lowered team mate Shannon Eckstein’s colours in the World Life Saving Championships (Rescue 2012) at Adelaide’s Christies Beach last year. Is also the defending Australian Champion in the open belt and Rescue Tube Rescue and as a member of the victorious Northcliffe Taplin Relay in 2011 and 2012 and the surf teams in 2011. Lahey has won a total of eight Australian Championships, including the 2007 and 2008 Australian Under 19 Surf Race. Will line up determined to add the prestigious Australian Open surf race crown – a race dominated by two-time Olympian and eight-time winner Ky Hurst over the past decade.

Bruce Zillman
Club: Tugun SLSC
Age: 49

Profile: One of Australia’s leading surf boat sweeps, who has steered the Tugun club to gold in the prestigious Australian Open Boat final in 2002. Also steered the boat as part of the winning Tugun Lifesaver Relay Team that won Aussies gold at Kurrawa last year with Olympic gold medallist Ken Wallace and Australian board champion Hugh Dougherty and his son Blake who was part of the boat crew. Will line up again in 2013 to defend the crown. A rare Australian champion who earlier in his career won two Under 18 Aussies gold medals in the R and R for the Kirra club, with his twin brother Andrew and under the coaching of former Queensland and Australian captain and R and R legend Bob Littler.

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Issued on behalf of Surf Life Saving Australia by

Ian Hanson