Surf Lifesavers and WA Government line up to launch The Aussies 2014 in its ‘host city’ of Perth

Surf Life Saving Australia, February 28, 2014: Surf Life Saving Australia (SLSA) officially launched The Australian Surf Life Saving Championships 2014 “The Aussies 2014” today at the Scarboro Surf Life Saving Club. The Championships will be held over seven days at Scarborough Beach between 31 March and 6 April 2014.

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President of SLSA Mr Graham Ford said the countdown had begun with one month to go until the biggest event of the Surf Life Saving season, which is expected to attract over 4,500 surf lifesavers from over 200 clubs.

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SLSA has worked closely with the City of Stirling and local authorities to deliver the event, and has stringent command and control processes in place to ensure that the event is as safe as possible for competitors and spectators.

“SLSA adheres to the existing protocols in place in WA through Surf Life Saving WA for incidents relating to emergency management including sharks management and mitigation,” Mr Graham Ford said.

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At the launch today, Mr Ford and Tourism Minister and Member for Scarborough, Liza Harvey, and His Worship the Mayor, City of Stirling, Councillor Giovanni Italiano, officially welcomed the Championships to the shores of WA for the first time in five years.

Joining the Surf Life Saving and government dignitaries were three of WA’s finest surf lifesavers Brendan Sarson (Trigg Island SLSC), Simon Huitenga (City of Perth SLSC) and Jade Mickle (City of Perth SLSC) who were on hand to discuss their Aussies 2014 ambitions.

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“The Aussies is the pinnacle of our sport and winning a gold medal is so hard, which is why it means so much to win one,” said Sarson, who has three Australian gold medals under his belt in the Under 19 Surf Race, Open Double Ski and Ski Relay.

“It’s great to have the Championships back in WA too and racing in front of your family and friends at a local beach,” Mr Sarson said.

2014 will be the 11th time WA has hosted The Aussies - the finale to the Australian surf sports calendar, and the ninth time it has been hosted at Scarborough, the beach that Surf Life Saving selected to host the Championships in 1951 when it awarded the event to WA for the first time.

The Masters competition will kick off the proceedings on 31 March for the first two days before the Open competition, which will include Under 15s, Under 17s and Under 19s, getting under way on Wednesday, April 2.

Competitors will contest everything from surf boats to beach sprints and flags to swim, board, ski and ironman to lifesaving, first aid and the traditional R and R.

For more information about the event visit www.sls.com.au/aussies

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The Aussies - Backgrounder

The Ironman, since its first winner Hayden Kenny at Coolangatta in 1966 and the Ironwoman its first champion Samantha O’Brien in 1992, has become the “Holy Grail” of the Championships and in 2014 they will just be as keenly sought after.

This year will see the two winners of the Australian Ironman and Ironwoman win places in next year’s prestigious Nutri-Grain Series.

And as happened in 2013 at North Kirra, anything can happen, with virtual unknown Cam Cole from Mooloolaba, emerging from the pack to cause one of the biggest upsets in the history of the sport.

He will be in Perth to defend his crown against five-time winner and recently crowned eight-time Nutri-Grain winner Shannon Eckstein, who is again looking to equal Trevor Hendy’s record of six Australian Open Ironman titles.

Such is the competition, four-time Australian Ironman winner Ky Hurst, who added his ninth Australian surf race last year, didn’t make the Ironman final while Eckstein was left to ponder “what happened” when he was swamped by the field to finish out of the top six for the first time in his career.

Hurst and Eckstein will return to Scarborough for another crack at Aussies gold – as will defending Ironwoman Champion and recently crowned Kellogg’s Nutri-Grain IronWoman Champion Courtney Hancock, who will return to her place of birth trying to add Australian IronWoman title number three.

Surf Life Saving Australia president Graham Ford today praised the competitors, the clubs and the officials for the effort in making The Aussies the premier event on the Australian Surf Sports calendar.

“There is a real buzz around the beach on that very first morning when you walk from the boat area to the Under 15s and see so many club tents and the different club shirts designed for The Aussies and all the club caps – your know then you are in the middle of one of the biggest sporting events in Australia,” said Ford.

“It’s a credit to the competitors who train so hard and dedicate their season to putting it all on the line and to the clubs who fundraise all year to make the Aussies a wonderful experience for all.

“The race for Aussies medals is a race that starts in the heats, runs through round after round and into the quarter finals and semi-finals and then into the finals where medals are fought for.

“Our aim is to ensure the safety of every competitor on the beach and the SLSA safety officers will again have a realtime watch at weather and surf conditions throughout the entire carnival.”

The Aussies 2014 will also see the SLSA and Royal Life Saving Society Australia cast an eye over the competition before they name the final Australian Life Saving team for this year’s World Life Saving Championships, Rescue 2014 taking place in France in September.

Issued on behalf of Surf Life Saving Australia

Ian Hanson
Hanson Media Group

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