From inside the world of competitive Surf Lifesaving comes the major events, the Coolangatta Gold and the Nutri Grain Iron Man. Each and every year these events are up for grabs and to finish in the top three places in the men’s and women’s is the ultimate.
However, when the medals are presented and the media is happy, it is then that the clubs conduct a down to earth performance assessment of both the individual and team events. Conducted by those who understand all aspects, the results will give them a good and encouraging feeling for the seasons ahead.
In other words, the most important factor of all comes to the forefront in all ages and disciplines: recognition and consolidation of the talent and the planning for the future.
What could be a better grounding than the Coolangatta Gold.
With this in mind the Noosa Heads SLSC sent a large contingent (including the nippers) to the recent iconic Coolangatta Gold: short course events Saturday and long course Sunday.
The Saturday short course (21 kms) featured two of Noosa’s young gun teams, who had to compete in the open male category due to the age requirement for the ski paddler.
Both were up against some of the best ski and board paddlers in the country and out of a total of 25 teams, our two finished in 8th and 12th. In the short course individual, our master athletes once again performed well with Belinda Marsh winning gold in the 50-59 female and in the same category male, Wes Greene won gold and Ian Martin bronze. In the short course events Noosa had 5 athletes contest the individual and 3 teams.
Also, on the Saturday events the Nippers ‘’Youth Challenge ‘’ saw a bronze medal go to Noosa’s Hendrick Marsh in the final of the U/11 iron man. Following this Hendricks big sister Kaiya Marsh finished an incredible 4th in a big field for the final of the open Downwind Paddle, a newly introduced 12km ski race.
This was a very impressive result as it was Kaiya’s first year as a U19 competitor.
Sunday for the long course was calm and hot with tough conditions on the course, no wind or sea assistance. In the elite male and female, we had one compete in each: in the male Jayden Morrow, contesting his first Gold, finished in 12th place(out of a field of 27) and in the female, our defending champion, Carla Papac finished 5th.
In the gruelling long course event, we had two masters compete. In the 50-age category Noosa’s James Marsh won the gold and a second gold went to import Jean Luc in the 60 plus.
Director of Surf Sports Alan Rogers said, “Overall, it was a great weekend in this gruelling event: remembering for a lot of our young, it was their first Coolangatta Gold.”
It is often said that a great foundation for a good surf club is without a doubt, the family environment. When this does occur, it is indeed something to be proud of and acknowledged. It is without a doubt a major factor in creating that most vital and important character of a good surf club: pride, tradition and mateship.
This Coolangatta Gold has shown us that another possible family tradition could be on the way. The outstanding contribution made by the Marsh family should be noted and acknowledged with Woogie Marsh (nipper coach) , son Hendrick, nipper U/11 iron man and daughter Kaiya U/19 (first ever Coolangatta Gold) in ski final.
The fact that a large contingent of nippers (under coach Woogie Marsh) travelled to Coolangatta for the Saturday Youth Challenge, speaks volumes for the future, so a big well done to Alan Rogers Director of Surf Sports, Head Coach Darren Mercer and Nipper Coach Woogie Marsh.
Sunshine Beach
Over the hill at Sunshine Beach our fellow clubbies travelled to Rainbow Beach for their annual carnival which was held on Saturday. The 88 strong youth team performed well to finish in 3rd place overall. This is their best result in many a long season, and it finally shows that they are close to matching it with the two biggest clubs on the coast Alexandra Headlands and Mooloolaba.
Training under Sunshine Beach Head Coaches, husband and wife duo, Wes and Jade Berg both the senior and junior teams continue to become stronger day by day.
It is now eighteen months since their arrival at Sunshine and the growth and development of a wonderful culture, enjoyment and team spirit is starting to produce outstanding athletes and results.
Head Coach Wes Berg said, “I could not be happier with the first carnival results of the season and how the squad is progressing. It is wonderful to see all the kids pre season hard work pay off as they have put in a wonderful effort. Most important of all the moral of the team is high and everyone is looking forward to the carnival season.
Under beach coach Pauline Gleeson the team had a great day with Mils Jones winning the u/13 beach flags and 2nd in the beach sprint: and Mils was backed up by sister Aalia who finished in 2nd place in the U15 sprint and flags.
Other outstanding results are: Naimh Arthur U15, 1st in the iron man, third in the board race, Jake Bauer U14 board race 1st and 3rd in the surf race. Under 14 iron Ava Gooderham 2nd, Zac Heffernan U14 2nd iron man and surf race. Under 13 Tallow Crouch 3rd in the board race and 2nd in the surf race. Ollie Thompson 3rd u/13 board race and 3rd in the iron, and for Liam Wright u/12, it was 1st in both the board and the iron man.
Relay results for Sunshine were also the best ever.
Surf boats.
On Saturday morning 9am the gun was fired on Noosa’s Main Beach to herald in the 2023/24 season of surf boat racing. This carnival, which was sponsored by Megabeam Gleam Beams, has become an annual event one that coaches and crews are eager to attend: reason being the surf conditions. At this time in the season the possibility of a good wave is indeed very rare: all crews know, flat surf and row all the way.
For the crews that are serious about their sport, these conditions are perfect. With a row all the way, by days end they get a rude awakening as to their standard of fitness. For all crews, in particular the rookies, this is of the utmost importance.
For the day there were some 50 plus crews registered from all up the Queensland coast: weather was perfect, as was the sea conditions for this time of the year. One of the highlights of the day was the performance of the Marcoola crew. With a club that is completely new to the sport it was good to see them on the winner’s dais, receiving a medal.
The host club was represented by 6 crews: U19 mens who finished 4th in the final, a great performance. In the women’s U19, two crews, with one winning a silver medal and the second crew finishing 4th.
For the U17 and U23s boys it was for them their first ever race. ‘’Being the rookies and having to row in the flat, it was definitely a great learning experience,” said Boat Captain Adam Hammersley. “However, we were very happy with their performance.” For the masters crew it was a hard day at the office and they were happy to make dry sand.
The highlight of the day for Noosa was contesting their first ever race in the new Netanya boat: and the smile on the faces of the crew at the finish, said it all. “A great boat and thank you Netanya.”
