By DEAN SMALLMAN
LAST weekend a group of 100 Sunshine Beach SLSC members made the trip south to the Gold Coast for the state SLSQ Pool Rescue Championships.
For those unfamiliar with this off-season event, pool rescue events are a mix of traditional surf lifesaving events using various pieces of equipment in the somewhat warmer waters of a swimming pool.
This year’s state titles were conducted over two days at the newly refurbished Gold Coast Aquatic Centre, which is one very cool and impressive facility, with six different pools one of which is indoors.
The U11s to U15s took to the water on day one with the more “weathered” competitors making a splash on day two.The 100-plus events are both team and individual based and include patient tows using rescue tubes, obstacle courses, mannequin carries as well as numerous relays.
Action on day one started at 8am and concluded at 5pm, with Sunday a little more forgiving.
While the weather wasn’t of Sunshine Coast quality, it didn’t stop the Sunshine Beach SLSC team from firing on all off-season cylinders.
In all the team of 35 competitors brought home in-excess of 40 medals including 10 gold medals and almost 20 silver medals.
Special mention must go to super coach Jo Redwood, who personally claimed four gold medals and a very nice silver – nothing like leading by example – and the “he’s pretty great at anything to do with water” Nick Sloman, who bagged three gold medals and four silver medals.
It was also impressive to see the ever growing 11- and 12-year-old girls and boys continuing to shine at carnivals with a bag of silver and bronze medals.
This was by far Sunshine Beach SLSC best performance at the state Pool Rescue Championships, with a third place overall, and when you consider the power clubs of both the Gold and Sunshine Coasts, this is certainly an outstanding result and a great foundation for the year ahead for the Nippers and the overall Surf Sports group.
Not wanting to sit back and dwell on their glory, an even bigger team will head back to the Gold Coast in two weeks for the Australian Pool Rescue Championships. Held over three days, the Australian Pool Rescue Championship will see teams from all over Australia gather to prove themselves as the best of the best, and we look forward to communicating the team’s successes on our return.
For those wanting to find out more about becoming a part of this amazing group for the upcoming season of Nippers and Surf Sports, simply jump online at www.sunshinebeachslsc.com.au and don’t forget to diarise the annual club sign on day at the Noosa Aquatic Centre on Saturday 5 September.
