Golden day in the life of Riley
Surf Life Saving Australia, April 16, 2015: A star was born at North Kirra yesterday afternoon when 18-year-old Riley Fitzsimmons from Avoca Beach paddled his way into Aussies folklore.
The kid from the NSW Central Coast came from the clouds to steal the coveted open single ski relay - one of the most coveted events on the Australian Championships program.
And the boys from Avoca, in the hunt all day, came from behind to defeat defending champions Newport and six-time champions Northcliffe in a dramatic finish.
“This is the one race we’ve been after, the one race we’ve been chasing for years; we’ve been second and third twice but we’ve never won the gold,” said 38-year-old second paddler Gordon Jones.
“We’ve been chasing a kid who can paddle and run and we’ve found one in Riley…I can now retire a happy man.”
But that’s only one part of a day in the life of this Riley.
Only minutes before his gold medal paddle he had helped Avoca to a gold medal win in the under 19 board relay with team mates Brad McCloghry and Jordan Moore over Newport B and Newport A.
But wait there’s more….while his open team and club mates were madly celebrating, Riley was hustled back to the under 19 ski relay final where he again produced a paddle of the ages to come from behind on the final leg to win Avoca the silver medal, again with McCloghry and Moore.
Two gold and a silver in 30 minutes of fury. A day in the life Riley will never forget.
“It’s so exciting to get the opportunity to paddle with guys like Lachy and Gordo every day, I’m blessed and this is a like a dream, I can’t believe it, I never gave up and knew I had the legs to get there,” said Fitzsimmons who will be back on the beach today chasing more success in the under 19 single ski and board races.
Meanwhile The open men’s board relay saw another “never say die” performance from defending champions Mooloolaba who won their third title in a row when they came from behind to beat Tugun and Redhead.
Luke Cuff paddled the opener for Mooloolaba which saw Sam Hamilton (Tugun) open up a commanding lead but Ali Day and then Hayden White paddled perfect races to take the title again.
Cuff and White were in the victorious Mooloolaba tea, from last year and for Day it was his first ever Aussies team gold.
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Issued on behalf of Surf Life Saving Australia by
Ian Hanson| Media Manager Triathlon Australia Managing Director
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