Beachies Elly Graf and Jordan Caldow back on top
Surf Life Saving Australia, April 17, 2015: IT HAS been a big couple of days for Elly Graf.
The Elouera speedster was back on the beach yesterday to claim her fifth Open Women’sBeach Sprint title at the 2015 Australian Surf Life Saving Championships at North Kirra.
Just the day before she had been named in the Australian team for the IAAF World Relays in the Bahamas next month.
A top-eight place at the World Relays could put Graf on a path to the Rio Olympics, and victory in the beach dash has her well on the path to becoming the surf lifesaving’s greatest female sprinter.
Title number five drew Graf level with Terrigal’s Veronica Lee, who dominated beach sprinting in the 1990s, as the sport’s most successful sprinter.
“Considering I haven’t been at Aussies for the last two years I’m very happy with how it went today,” the 24-year-old said.
“This is probably only my second surf carnival this season because I have been working on the track.
“I love it here competing in surf, the atmosphere and being with the club is good fun.”
Graf was drawn in lane nine on what proved to be the favoured side of the track and, after dominating her semi-final, showed her customary power to win the final by a clear margin from latest Currumbin recruit Brittany Brymer and Bree Masters (Kurrawa).
She is keen to keep coming back to the beach to add to her tally of gold medals but bigger things may be on the horizon in the next 18 months, especially if Graf and her team do well on the track in the Bahamas and guarantee a place at Rio 2016.
“Rio is the target, mainly for relays but getting there as an individual would be a bonus,” Graf said.
The top side of the track also proved the place to be in the Open Men’s final where Currumbin’s Jordan Caldow took his third Australian title, ahead of Jackson Symonds (Sorrento, WA) and Dean Scarff (Collaroy).
Caldow’s victory continued his resurgence in the sport after he hit a low point following his victories in 2011 and 2012.
He also led the Viking resurgence which saw the southern Gold Coast cub dominate yesterday’s finals.
Caldow moved to Currumbin Beach two years ago to train under the guidance of former Australian champion Brett Robinson, who said the 21-year-old was now emerging as a serious athlete in all forms of sprinting, not just on the beach.
Earlier this month he won the Backmarkers’ Invitational at the Stawell Gift carnival.
“The first title I won is probably the most important to me but this one’s a good sign for me that I’m coming back,” Caldow said.
“I fell behind for about 12 months and last year I was sort of pulling myself out of the dirt. It’s good to finally feel that I have.
Caldow credits Robinson and his Currumbin team-mates with getting his career back on track.
“Everyone just supports each other, we’ve got the best coach in the world and it’s the best environment you could be in,” he said.
“I’ve moved from being the kid with talent who didn’t like to work hard. Robbo’s favourite saying is ‘hard work beats talent when talent doesn’t work hard’ and I learnt that the hard way.”
Currumbin enjoyed a big day on the sprint track, also claiming three relay gold medals, the Open women’s and the men’s and women’s in the under-19s.
The under-19 Men’s Sprint was won by Jason Gough (Mooloolaba) from clubmate Edward Belcher and Peter Axiotis (Wanda), while in the under-19 women’s New Zealander Zoe Hobbs (Fitzroy, NZ) finished ahead of Renee Stortenbecker (Elouera) and Kaitlin Mott (Helensburgh-Stanwell Park).
Jack Fildes (Northcliffe) produced a powerful finish to edge out Cody Rychvalsky (Maroochydore) in the under-17 men’s final, ahead of Mathew Currie (Currumbin), while last year’s Open Sprint gold medallist Jessica Thornton of Coogee won the under-17 women’s gold medal from Olivia Fien (Currumbin), with Nicole Kay (Mooloolaba) and Kyla King (Cronulla) dead heating for third place.
Collaroy won the Open Men’s Beach Relay ahead of Kurrawa and Sorrento (WA), while in the under-17s, the titles went to Manly (Men’s) and Helensburgh-Stanwell Park (Women’s).
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