BETWEEN THE FLAGS By RON LANE
IT was their first carnival for two months and in the tough world of surf boat racing this is indeed a big drawback.
However the results achieved by the Noosa boat crews at Sunday’s Beko Cup carnival, held at Mooloolaba Beach, speak for themselves.
Noosa competed with four crews – women’s, men’s under-23, reserves and masters. The ladies won their division, the under-23 men and the masters finished second and the reserves made the semi- finals.
“Overall, we are very happy with the results,” coach and senior sweep David Tomba said.
“When you take into consideration that we have not had a race for months our results are pretty good. With only a very small wave to contest, the flat conditions gave our crews a good indication as to the fitness.
“At this time of the year it is exactly what they need.”
Their next carnival will be round four of the Biko Cup and this will be held at Tallebudgera on 28 February. This series which is run by the Australian Surf Rowers League, is an excellent lead up to the state championships to be held in March, and the nationals in April.
While the boaties were doing their thing at Mooloolaba, both Sunshine and Noosa took their swimmers and boardies to the Ocean Assault Carnival at North Burleigh on the Gold Coast. Held over Saturday and Sunday, the results for both clubs were encouraging. Once again it was their under-17s who excelled. For Sunshine, the under-17s finished first and second in the blue ribbon event the Taplin Relay, and in the swim events Nick Sloman finished second in the under-17 surf race then backed up to surprise a lot of people by finishing first in the open surf race.
Noosa’s Jordan Mercer won the open board, and Connor Burrows in the under-17 board finished second. In the iron man under-17, Bailey Williams finished in second place, and in the men’s open surf race Mackenzie Hynard continued his good form to finish second.
Despite not winning a medal in the open Taplin Relay, Noosa’s fifth place was one of the best performances of the carnival. The Taplin Relay teams tackle three disciplines – swim, board and ski. To finish in the top five in a carnival such as the Ocean Assault, which is contested by the best in the state, is a true indicator of the talent we have in our clubs.
With both Noosa and Sunshine getting good results in the various divisions of the Taplin, it is indeed very encouraging for both state and nationals titles.
At Sunday’s general meeting of the Noosa club, Brett Leckie senior representative for Peregian on the Noosa management committee, thanked Noosa for taking on the task of amalgamating the two clubs.
“This has been a major undertaking and I thank Noosa for all we have achieved. At present we are starting a drive to increase our bronze holders by a hundred. This will of course take time but it will be a massive step towards our future on Peregian Beach.”
Another to address the meeting was Ken Denham. Ken a member of Noosa, is one of a small group of Australians who are at present working to get surf lifesaving established in Vietnam.
Vietnam, a country of non-swimmers, has over the last several years suffered some 10,000 drowning’s in creeks, rivers and beaches. Sadly the majority are children. This is totally unacceptable.
Three regions where work is now under way are Vung Tau, Na Trang and Da Nang.
At present, the Australian Volunteers for International Development group, a branch of Life Saving Australia, is in support.
