Coogee Surf Life Saving Club

Australian Titles 2012

The Australian Surf Life Saving Championships concluded yesterday. I think none of us could believe we faced the same dreadful scenario as just two seasons ago. But face it we had to do.

There could hardly be any sadder thing than to lose a young child. Our hearts go out to the Barclay family after the loss of Matthew on the first day of the open competition. Our own IRB people were involved in the search for Matthew and Benjamin Thornton also spent a number of exhausting hours in the water with them. As was the case two years ago, an air of great, indeed overwhelming, sadness hung over the championships.

I attended the team managers meeting to discover the fate of the rest of the event and heard a short but deeply moving speech delivered by the president of Maroochydore surf club which amongst other things informed us of a request from the Barclay family that the Australian Titles should continue. All events were moved to North Kirra beach on the Friday.

Coogee performed extremely well at these titles and there will be two or three more photos to be put up onto the club wall.

She may have been one of the smallest members of our team but talent and effort were top of the field as Jessica Thornton strode to the front of the field in her Under 15 years beach sprint. Jessica had finished second at the recent NSW State Titles but coming off the back of five gold medals at the recent Australian youth track and field titles, Jessica added a sixth gold medal to her haul and looked a total class act in doing so. Only still Under 14 we can look to another similar result next season.

Our senior R&R team have been around quite a number of times now, sometimes with a different assortment of members. This time three Mison’s (Brook, Kylie, Trent) and two Fernandez’(Mat and Rob) was a winning combination and they took out the event in fine form. This is a very excellent win and thoroughly deserved by this team. They have trained long and hard and recently also won the State Congratulations all of you. Hope we see you go round again!

On the beach we saw our 170 years ladies beach sprinters take out a hard fought win in their beach relay. The lead in this race changed between three teams as the race unfolded and while the first three runners all played their part it finally came down to a final change which saw a 30 cm second place position come out as a 1 metre lead which our runners held to the last. Well done ladies - Sharon Deans, Alison Roberts Helen Begg & Linda Walsh) and thanks Beau Docking for the change training during the year.

While Jessica was busy taking home gold, brother Benjamin Thornton put in a great performance in the U17 years surf race. I am told the first two swimmers were neck and neck the whole way with Benjamin finally taking out second place.

Another other second place getter was Hugh Millar in the U17 year’s beach sprint. Hugh had a very ordinary quarter final but blitzed the field in his semi. Unfortunately Hugh stumbled badly at the start of the final so the silver medal was a fantastic effort. One that got away Hugh but so good to see you back in form on the beach.

Abigail Hopkins came second in the 30-39 years champion lifesaver. Abigail joined the rest of our champ lifesavers in some outstanding results including a 3^rd, 4^th and 5^th in the 40+ years even, Paul Jefferson 4th also in the 30+ years and of course the Open patrol competition which finished 4^th but managed to beat the big clubs in two of the parts of that event.

Other bronze medals came to Linda Walsh in the 2K beach race, Chris Gately in the surf race and Anthony Schubitz in the champ lifesaver. And a special mention to Bronte Franklin, Maddie Gately, Gen Luscombe, Xanthe Murphy and Emma Phibbs who finished 3^rd the Under 17 R&R after one of the girls trod on a tent peg which required 8 stitches after the event. I am told blood was everywhere during the event. No blood bin in R&R. Tough way to do it but they did it!

Another special mention for our mens reserve boat crew. Mat Leary,Phil Evans, Cameron Upton, Jason Papadatos and Michael Leary rowed to a terrific 4th place. What a great effort in such a difficult eve to shine. Also our Under 23 ladies made the final of their event.

Congratulations to all who attended the titles. Our efforts after an extremely sad event were outstanding. I have not yet seen the full point score but am sure our performance will have seen us quite high in the overall result.

Full Result

more team photos

I have this idea it is nice to know who is who. Here are some more team photos.

U19 Boat.."Coogee Snappers"..Jordan Trejbal, Mitch Hardy, Nelson Kay, Cameron Rawson

Coogee U/23 female boat..Grace Chapman, Sarah Hill, Kristen Raper, Olivia Toldi

U/19 Boat.. "Coogee Blue".. Daniel Rafty, Blake Pazmino, Matt Leary, Morgan  Davis, Dave Collins

Open Beach Relay - Michael Denny-Smith, James Moran, Beau Docking, Matt Horton

U17 Beach Relay Team RED - Joey Michaels, Callum Hawkins, Nathan Radford, Lachlan O'Sullivan

U17 Beach Relay Team BLUE - Alex Peterson, Ben Morgan, Jack Harrison, Hugh Millar

Boatie news: Nth Narabeen wrap-up

Well we're almost there! One full week of training left before we set sail for sunny QLD, then no more long winded emails from yours truly. Last Saturday was the "Best of the Best" boat carnival held at North Narrabeen. Not even the wet miserable day could dampen Coogee's performance as, once again, we showed that we are serious contenders for some bullion in a week and a half's time.
 
RESULTS
1st  -  PRAWNS (Reserve division)
2nd  -  U/23 female
6th  -  Coogee Snappers (Junior mens division)
 
Each crew had to qualify to compete at this event which meant there was a select gathering of crews from each metropolitan area. A small 2-foot wave with some light chop out the back and a very long row drew the day out a little longer than what it should have been, but made for some great training pre-Aussies.
 
The Prawns, having rowed well the past few weeks, put some great back to back rows together. Uppy's porno faces on the way to the can in the final will be something I will cherish forever...and no doubt have re-occurring nightmares about! Mick Leary, finally recovered from a 1-week-enduro bucks party to Bangkok just prior to Pac Palms, regained his flare to lead the boys to a gold in the Ressys division. If their sweep can keep the boat straight then sky's the limit for these boys.
 
The girls keep ticking things along very nicely indeed. A great result for a crew who were a little jaded by illness and a tough week of training. The girls showed a lot of grit and determination to row back into a second position and closing in on 1st position very fast!
 
The juniors were the surprise package again. Their starts have been their strength and I believe they got off the beach first in almost every race! Rawso, the starting machine, was searching for abalone (he was that deep) in the first race but still managed to skip into the bow seat without a hitch. I think he has received some real street cred for his starts after last weekend and I will put him up there against some of the great bow starters of this century -  Rod Colman, Jo Mooney and Soup Bones! Well done mate.

~ Matt L
 

States: Boaties' report

The men's boat crews showing off one of the new oars.

Silver - U/23 girls

Top 12 - U/19 men

What a sensational weekend it was for Coogee. As a boat captain, I can say I was truly proud to be able to stand on the beach Sunday morning and have both our U/23 girls and U/19 boys still fighting for medals. This is a first for Coogee. And it proves to the other clubs that we are building our junior ranks, which can only hold us in good stead for the future. These are the rowers who will be competing for Coogee at the highest level in our sport.

Conditions were great - a 2-3 ft wave on a super sunny weekend, what more could you ask for. A sucky edge on the high tide and dredgy outer bank on the low meant sweeps and crews were tested at some stage. Our location was Fingal due to there being no beach at Kingscliff! And I mean no beach.

The girls proved that consistency is the key to success. Starting quick all weekend, they once again went about their business with no fancy fan-fair and kept popping their heads up in qualifying positions. The girls now have a great combination happening in the boat, which Bec has wrangled magnificently.  The only 'all girl' crew in Australia, I know are very stoked with their silver and has given them great confidence in the lead up to the big one! Congrats girls. This is our first State medal in the U/23 female division. Yew!

The crew: Bec Hamilton, Grace "Noisy" Chapman, Olivia "I'm not as OCD as Matt Leary" Toldi, Sarah "Have you seen me dance at the Coogee Bay" Hill, Kristen "Luv a chat" Raper.

The Junior Snappers (Brett's boys) were strong all weekend. To have a junior men's crew racing on Sunday was a special occasion because the blokes just got a wiff of their potential. They made it to the minor semi-finals but unfortunately did not proceed. They had a cracker start in the first attempt at starting the race, only to have the starter call them back! Their powerhouse starts have been their strength as well as Snapper's sweeping being extremely good! ... Just ask him. Well done boys.

The crew: Snapper, Jordan "Just add alcohol" Trejbal, Mitch "Ball bag" Hardy, Nelson "PK" Kay, Cameron "My body is a temple" Rawson.

We did have some misfortune in the Reserve division. The prawns rowed very well but their cock-eyed sweep prevented them from proceeding any further as we slipped the wrong side of the gate can in our 3rd race…disqualified! I can't believe no one saw Moby Dick breach just below the bow of the boat which shifted our nose off course! I swear it’s the truth! The boys were very diplomatic about the situation. My junior men unfortunately went out in our round robin. The boys came to States ready to row and put in a great effort in their first two races. I could not deny them their commitment they showed but unfortunately the placing did not go the way we wanted in round 1 and were left chasing our tales in the latter races.

I would like to thank the Club, which supported us in towing the boats to Kingscliff. Without the assistance of these members, the boats would not have left the boat shed. Also we are sporting some new gear in the form of sweep oars proudly donated by Ian 'Northy' North, Trevor Folsom and, the one and only, David 'Luna' Park. Their assistance has not gone unnoticed and we would like to get a few photos with them on Sunday 25th March following the Aussie team meeting at the club.

I'll just finish by saying thanks to the Prawns and Blues who helped tirelessly all weekend to make the other crews race preparation a breeze.         

~ Matt L