At the Australian Surf Life Saving Championships held in Perth, the Noosa Surf Club was once again among the medals in the relatively unknown First Aid competition. Noosa, under coach Lenore Grice and her assistants, came home with a silver and two bronze.
For many years first aid competition struggled for recognition, but now it has really started to change. With the massive visitation now being experienced on our beaches, its importance is noted. It is interesting to note the number of first aid patrol people who, after getting experience have turned to paramedics as a profession.
In Noosa’s first aid U15 team, they took a double when Rosita Ortega and Archer Bailey won silver and Rosie Goulding and Pebble Brennan-Kessel won bronze. Open First Aid, Joey Glassock and Jessie Lloyd Stewart also won bronze. Once again in our youth competition U14 Champion Lifesaver, our Rosita Ortega won bronze.
In the water Open Female 2km swim Finella Gibbs-Beal won gold and made it a double when she also won the U19. In the U19 Male 2km,Kilian Carrel won bronze. Open Female Longboard Kirra Molnar won gold and doubled up to win gold in the Shortboard.
In the master’s section Noosa entered a big team coming home with a big tally of medals in all sections: gold silver and bronze. It was good to see that they really performed well in team events, right across the board: taplin, ski, board and swim. A Masters team in clubs is good to see as they can in many cases, serve as mentors for the youth. Prominent amongst the Golden Oldies were Alison Peg, Julie Fidler and Peter Borain: and of course, the evergreen Iron lady of surf, Gina Lynch.
Next week we discuss the Australian Titles with Sunshine Beach Lifesaving Manager Michelle Burnett and coaches Wes Berg and Dylan Wilson.
