SURF LIFE SAVING AUSTRALIA ANNOUNCES DATES FOR AUSSIES 2010

Sydney, October 24: After recently announcing that the Australian Surf Life Saving Championships will return to Gold Coast from 2010, Surf Life Saving Australia (SLSA) today released the dates for the 2010 event.

The 2010 Australian Surf Life Saving Championships will be held at Kurrawa Beach from 16-21 March 2010.

SLSA, Queensland Government and Gold Coast City Council recently signed a Heads of Agreement for ‘the Aussies', as they are known, to be held on the Gold Coast for three years from 2010 to 2012, after which the plan is to rotate the event between other states and the Gold Coast every two years.

Thus, the Gold Coast will host at least seven Australian Surf Life Saving Championships between 2010 and 2022 (ie 2010, 2011, 2012, 2015, 2016, 2019 and 2020). 

Other states will be able to bid for the event in 2013, 2014, 2017, 2018, 2021 and 2022.

The Australian Surf Life Saving Championships are the largest sporting event of their type in the world, attracting more than 7000 competitors and officials, along with tens of thousands of spectators each year. 

The six day event represents the peak of competition for surf lifesavers from Australia's 306 surf life saving clubs, all of whom have given up their time to patrol the nation's beaches.

The UBD Aussies 2009 will be held at Scarborough Beach, Perth, Western Australia from 17-22 March.  This year's event will also feature the Australian Interstate Championships on Wednesday 18 March, which will see all states and the Northern Territory battle it out for state supremacy.

The event will be broadcast on Channel 7.

For all the latest news on the UBD Aussies 2009 visit http://www.aussies2009.com/.  

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For more information please contact SLSA Media & Communications Officer Lauren Ryan on (02) 9300 4000 or 0402 162 807.