NORTH KIRRA TRANSFORMED INTO SURF CENTRAL FOR 2013 AUSSIES

SURF LIFE SAVING, April, 14, 2013: North Kirra Beach has been transformed into “Surf Central” with the arrival this week of over 6,500 lifesavers from over 200 clubs from all over Australia.

A flotilla of surf craft and surf boats have converged on the Southern Gold Coast for this year’s Australian Surf Life Saving Championships – “The Aussies” with the beach playing home to a sea of tents, skis, boards, boats as competitors chase rare Aussies gold medals.

The sleepy little hamlet will come alive with thousands of Australia’s best lifesavers jam-packed onto the only beach on the east coast of Australia with enough sand to conduct Surf Life Saving’s answer to the “Olympics.”

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.

Much attention will again centre around the Ironman and Ironwoman events – the major highlights of Sunday’s finals day at North Kirra.

“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 SLSA’s General Manager Sport, Dave 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.”

The big question are can Northcliffe’s Shannon Eckstein defend his Australian crown and add Ironman title number six as he attempts to equal all-time great Trevor Hendy and will former Commonwealth Games swimmer Rebecca Creedy hold out a host of stars and defend her crown?

Defending champion Eckstein has five titles to his name, one less than Hendy and one more than Ky Hurst and Grant Kenny on four.

Hurst will be in the field, chasing Eckstein and trying to win his fifth title and his first since 2002.

Eckstein, the 29 year-old Northcliffe competitor has already notched his fourth World Title in Adelaide in November and his seventh Kellogg’s Nutri-Grain Series title.

His main opposition will come from last year’s podium finishers Ali Day (Mooloolaba), Hugh Dougherty (Tugun), Kendrick Louis (Mooloolaba), Hurst (Kurrawa) and NSW sensation Jack Moyes (Terrigal), who beat Eckstein at the recent Queensland Championships and Elouera’s NSW champion Dane Farrell.

The Open Ironwoman will feature defending champion, former Commonwealth Games swimming gold medallist Rebecca Creedy (Metropolitan Caloundra) who will have to be at her absolute best to add gold medal number two in this hotly contested final.

Telstra Ironwoman Series winner, Courtney Hancock will be joined on the start line by a host of girls eager to add their names to the coveted list of champions, including Coolangatta Gold, World and Queensland champion Brodie Moir from North Burleigh and her team mates Alyce Bennett and new recruits Elizabeth Pluimers and Tara Coleman.

The Open Surf Boat will feature NSW crew Mona Vale who will be looking to join the likes of Cronulla, Ballina-Lighthouse Lismore and North Cottesloe (four) as only the fourth crew since 1920 to win three straight A Boat race championships.

But local southern Gold Coast club Currumbin is mounting a two-pronged attack to try and wrest the precious gold away from their southern neighbours.

Two-time Qld Champions, Matt Wildman’s Currumbin Huskals and last year’s runners-up and the 2013 Ocean Thunder champions, Lyle Clark’s Currumbin Barbarians are very much in the hunt to bring the title back to the Gold Coast for the first time since Bruce Zillman steered Tugun to victory in 2002.

The Open Beach Flags is one of the most popular spectator events at the Aussies with Kurrawa pair Simon Harris in the men’s and Melissa Howard in the women’s trying to hold on to their dynasties.

Harris will be attempting to increase his gold medal tally to 10, since his first victory in 2000 while in the women Howard will have to contend with arch rival, New Zealander Chanel Hickman (who will line up for the first time in the green and white quartered Currumbin colours) if she is to increase her tally to nine and maintain her unbeaten record since 2006.

The Open Taplin Relay is the ultimate team challenge, commonly referred to as the Ironman Relay with clubs fielding their two best ski paddlers, board paddlers and swimmers.

Defending and eight-times champions Northcliffe, with Olympic kayak gold medallists Tate Smith and Murray Stewart (formerly from Manly) and ironman king Shannon Eckstein leading the way will be hard to beat. Expect the challengers to come from Mooloolaba, Kurrawa, Tugun, Northcliffe B, Elouera, Terrigal and Cronulla.

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. 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.

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

Issued on behalf of Surf Life Saving Australia by

Ian Hanson

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