OLYMPIAN EFFORT NEEDED TO MASTER THE KURRAWA BREAK
March 16: David Moase and Ian Hanson run their eyes over the first day of Masters competition at the 2010 Whereis Australian Surf Lifesaving Championships at Kurrawa where lifesavers from all over Australia showed that age shall not weary them...
If you wanted a gold medal in the swim events in the 30-34 years age bracket then you had to produce an Olympic-style effort.
1996 Olympic 1500m silver medalist Daniel Kowalski was on the start line in Lorne colours for the surf race and rescue tube race but not even his outstanding swimming pedigree was enough to ensure an Aussies gold medal.
It was silver again for Kowalski in the rescue tube when he finished behind renowned belt swimmer Luke Turner, with Gordon Jones of Avoca Beach third.
The surf race saw Kowalski place fourth as fellow Victorian Mark Graham emerged from the wild conditions to grab gold ahead of Brent McKinnon (Elouera) and Corey Myers (MacMasters Beach).
Myers had a strong day, also placing second behind Adrian Tobin (Swansea-Belmont) in the board race and then took gold in the Ironman ahead of Ben Squiers (Wanda) and Tim Jennett (Wollongong City).
Nathan Croal (North Bondi) claimed the ski race gold medal, beating Ivor Morgan (Anglesea) and Ryan Cook (Swansea Belmont).
On the sand, Ryan Hartshorne (Anglesea) won the beach sprint from Chris Alagich (Glenelg) and Brenden Reedy (North Narrabeen), while in the 2km beach run it was Ben Bell (Corrimal) who took gold ahead of Jonathan Price (Burnie) and Anthony Carroll (Bronte).
In the women's area, Northcliffe's Tiarne Smith - sister of elite competitors Nathan and Kristyl Smith - showed she has plenty of the family talent as well, winning gold medals in the rescue tube race, ahead of Sarah Goodwin (Glenelg) and Michelle Kent (Redhead), and in the board race, beating Kent and Leah Laut (Swansea Belmont).
It was obviously a day for Smiths as Redhead's Cherie Smith won the surf race from Kirsty Bowlay (North Burleigh) and Sarah Goodwin (Glenelg), while the ski race went to Lee Myatt (Port Noarlunga) ahead of Kurrawa's Jane Kelly.
Myatt who was third in the beach sprint, behind Davina Strauss (Coledale) and Catherine Donaldson (Kurrawa), and in the 2km run won by Manly's Ruth Kelly ahead of April Zekulich (Kurrawa).
35-39 YEARS
Currumbin Beach's Michael Chan struck double gold in the big conditions, winning both the surf race and the rescue tube race.
The Gold Coast lifeguard, who won seven Aussies gold medals as part of the mighty Currumbin patrol teams between 1995 and 2001, used his familiarity with the conditions in both gold medal efforts.
In the surf race, Chan backed off a big wave then latched onto a smaller corner which took him all the way to the beach ahead of Craig Burke (Warilla Barrack Point) and Ashley Massie (Maroochydore).
He was then the quickest to realise the rescue tube field had been swept off course and readjusted his compass to reach the cans ahead of Tristan Read (Lorne) and Robert Edwards (Southport). Chan also took silver in the board race, where Steve Seddon (Half Moon Bay) won gold and Mark Jacobs (Alexandra Headland) bronze.
A keenly contested Ironman event was taken out by Wade Lee (Maroochydore) from Massie and Russall Cooper (Southport). Massie also won a bronze medal in the ski race, which was won by Ernest Ronchi (Seaspray) with Seddon second.
Joel Maybury of Killcare was the quickest man on the sand as he took out the beach sprint from Jason Chapman (Newport) and Tim Matchett (Warriewood), while Chris Walker (Burleigh Heads Mowbray Park) won the 2km beach run from Steve Ballard (Shellharbour) and Robert Edwards (Southport).
Fiona Borg of South Maroubra struck double gold, winning the surf race from Sue Bell (Helensburgh/Stanwell Park) and Kelli Van De Water (Half Moon Bay), as well as the board race where she finished ahead of Van De Water and Sonia Grundy (Lorne).
Bell had a better result in the rescue tube race where she won from Amanda Lee (Mullaloo) and her NSW South Coast clubmate Mel Whiteside. In the ski race Alison Olander (Alexandra Headland) was the winner from Sharon Kyme (Northcliffe) and Lee.
Queenscliff made it a clean sweep in the beach sprint, with Kylie Stewart winning ahead of clubmates Natalie Bayly and Annabel Nelson, while the 2km run went to Lisa Nugent (Arcadian) from Sarah Davis (North Bondi) and Whiteside.
40-44 YEARS
The men's events in this age group were dominated by Terrigal's Paul Lemmon who had a golden day, winning four events.
Lemmon, the head coach at the NSW Central Coast club, showed he still knows how to get the job done himself, taking out the surf, rescue tube, Ironman and board race in a dominant display.
Spare a thought for the rivals who had to be content with silver medals after coming up against a competitor in outstanding form. They were Simon Storry (North Bondi - surf), Craig Greenwood (Northcliffe - rescue tube), ex-South Sydney league star Darren Schott (Maroubra - Ironman) and Australian high performance coach Brett Dowker (Currumbin Beach - board).
The only water event Lemmon didn't win was the ski race which was taken out by another Central Coast competitor, North Entrance's Steve Allan, who finished ahead of Mark Owen (Warrnambool) and Martin Kenny (Mooloolaba).
Jeff Davidson (Mullaloo) won the beach sprint ahead of Michael Gedz (Queenscliff) and Ross McSwan (Alexandra Headland). The 2km beach run was taken out by Kevin Ferry (North Steyne) from Rod Morrison (Kawana Waters) and Shayne Boyd (Northcliffe).
Janet Proudfoot of Newport was the age group's most successful female competitor, winning the surf race from Karen Higgison (Nowra/Culburra) and Lisa McGuigan (Maroubra). She also won the board race, this time beating McGuigan into second place, with Paula Savage (Coolum Beach) third.
Newport also had a gold medal winner in the 2km run, with Margaret Pearson crossing the line ahead of Deborah Evans (Clovelly) and Jodi Kappler (Port Noarlunga).
Susan Tuite of North Burleigh was a home town winner in the rescue tube race ahead of Louise Santos (Bondi) and Heli Murray (Byron Bay), while the ski race went to another Gold Coaster, Anna Ballara of Northcliffe, who beat the versatile McGuigan.
Beach sprint honours went to Colleen Pickthall (Sandon Point) from WA duo Peta Watkins (Sorrento) and Dianne Kelly (City of Bunbury).
45-49 YEARS
Gavin Hill of Northcliffe had two reasons for celebration after taking out the Ironman and the board race.
In the Ironman he was too good for Darren O'Donnell (Copacabana) and Craig Chapman (Surfers Paradise), while place getters in the board race were Chris Maynard (Currumbin Beach) and Noel Kolkka, (Northcliffe).
Southport's Adam Sambrook emerged victorious in the surf race ahead of Glen Lawrence (Byron Bay) and John de Mestre (Freshwater), while Lawrence struck gold in the rescue tube race ahead of Chapman and Chris Gately (Coogee).
Evergreen Jeff Lemarseny (Mooloolaba) took out the ski race from Peter Foster (Anglesea) and O'Donnell.
Mark Nolan's trip from Western Australia was made worthwhile when the North Cottesloe competitor won the beach sprint from Manly's Nigel Kassulke and Queenscliff's Stephen Hoy.
Another West Australian, Andrew Walker (City of Perth) won the 2km beach run from Robert Ryan (Shellharbour) and Dave Brukmann (Cronulla).
Alexandra Headland had a strong team for the women's events, with Alison Pegg winning the surf race and Alison Lingard taking out the ski race.
Pegg beat Manly's Christie Krenkels and Colleen Harrison (North Avoca Beach), while Lingard beat out Janine Higgins (The Lakes).
Krenkels had better luck in the rescue tube race when she beat Lee Howes (Newcastle) and Sandra Penman (Mermaid Beach), while the board race was won by Mandy Hanmer (Kurrawa), from Pegg and Penman.
On the sand, Robyn Henderson (Queenscliff) took out the sprint from Diane Broad (Sorrento, WA) and Julie Jowett (North Avoca Beach), while the 2km run went to Kim Winter from Forster on the NSW Lower North Coast ahead of Wendy Callard (Kurrawa) and Amanda Noble (Mooloolaba).
50-54 YEARS
Northcliffe legend Stephen Fry added two more gold medals to his impressive Aussies medal haul, with wins in the surf race and tube race finals, beating Paul Openshaw (Brighton) and Kim Harker (Mooloolaba) in the tube and Michael Daly (North Burleigh) and Andrew Lanyon (Henley) in the surf race.
The Iredale brothers Doug and Chris from Wanda also surfed their way onto the winners podium with Doug showing his surfing skills to win the Ironman from Daly and Southport legend Mark Bennetts third.
He also finished second to Greg Bowtitch (Tallebudgera) in the single ski which saw Bruce Kolkka take bronze. Brother Chris proved too good for Bennetts and Kolkka in the Ironman. Daly had earlier snatched gold in the two-km beach run.
Noosa's Gina Lynch and Swansea Belmont's Dale Mowbray were the dominant forces in the women with Lynch winning three gold medals in the two-km beach run, surf race and board race and Mowbray two.
She was the only competitor to finish a testing single ski race and she proved too strong for Lynch in the rescue tube.
55-59 yrs
Former Ironman star from the 70s Geoff Dews from Maroochydore showed he's lost none of his skills, winning the Ironman from Newport's Kevin Flood, with Stan Davies (Cottesloe, WA) taking the bronze.
Dews, formerly with Wanda, won silver behind Currumbin's Norm Rabjohns at Blacksmith's and silver 1972 again behind Olympian Ken Vilder at Glenelg in 1974 in the Australian Open Ironman title.
Flood of course is the father of Manly's Ironwoman queen Naomi Flood, who will mount her charge to recapture the Australian crown on Thursday.
Another legendary Aussies competitor and one of Dews old rivals in "The Shire" Steve Warren (North Cronulla) added another gold to his collection, winning the open board race.
Warren won 16 open gold medals and in 1975 was named along with Vidler and Peter Lacey as the three greatest competitors of their era.
Meanwhile, Freshwater's "big boppers" Alan Burns (rescue tube) and Don Boland (surf race), both claimed gold medals, to kick-start the maroon and white medal haul.
In the women's events, Jenny Hales from Noosa Heads was the only competitor to finish in the gruelling conditions in the board and ski.
60-64 yrs
Jeff Banks from Fairy Meadow on the NSW South Coast won gold in the Ironman beating the only other finisher Peter Hennessey from Tacking Point on the NSW North Coast.
Banks had a field day, adding bronze in the rescue tube behind former Freshwater Ironman Greg Reddan (Southport) and former WA Ironman Michael Cook (Trigg Island).
Cook, second to Ken Vidler in the 1973 Australian Open Ironman title, won gold in the surf race from Barry Aplin (Surfers Paradise) with the ever present Banks again winning bronze.
Aplin won Aussies gold back in 1967 as a member of the Pacific junior R and R team that included the great beltman from Southport Alan Saxby.
In other events, Bob Wilson (Queenscliff) won the beach sprint, Gary Hepburn (Mooloolaba) the single ski and Peter "Cus" Kirkwood the open board.
In the women's events it was Susan Reilly from Fairhaven, Victoria who won double gold in the one-km beach run and the beach sprint.
65-69 yrs
Bondi's Cyril Baldock, a member of Harry Nightingale's R and R Premiership winning team of 1972 won the rescue tube from another R and R great in Bob Watkins from Cottelsoe with Peter Fraser (Alexandra Headlands) taking the bronze.
Watkins, who also won R and R gold with Queenscliff in 1983 before coaching Bondi to the Premiership flag in 1990, 1992 and 2006, showed his surfing skills to win the surf race from Baldock with the grand master of Ironman racing, Alan Coates (Noosa Heads) winning the bronze.
Coates, who was an original Ironman in 1966 at Coolangatta, won the board race from Ross Blatchford (Redhead) and Warren Green (Wollongong City), while Blatchford won the single ski from his team mate Dennis Searle and Currumbin's popular ski coach John Newton.
Watkins's former Queenscliff team mate, Paul Hammond, continued his winning streak on the beach, winning the one kilometre beach run and the beach sprint, leaving his arch rival, Clovelly's John "The Scribe" McNamee to settle for silver.
70 yrs & over
North Burleigh's evergreen surf lifesaver, the bodysurfing king, Neville de Mestre again stole the show in the golden oldies division winning a golden treble in rescue tube, board race and surf race titles.
De Mestre won the tube from Allan Metti (Cronulla) and Robert Blair (Glenelg, SA)
while in the surf race it was de Mestre, the expert body-surfer, who proved too good for Gary Gillies (South West Rocks, NSW) with Blair third.
Gillies showed a clean pair of heals to win the one kilometre beach run from Billy Ryan (Tweed Heads/Coolangatta), who also finished second to de Mestre in the board race, while Glen Wilson (Mooloolaba) won the beach sprint.