Beach Events

​Members who are interested in surf sports, may be eligible to participate in a variety of beach (sand) events at local, Branch, State and National level competition.  Surf sports competition is a healthy and enjoyable part of lifesaving.  Competition is voluntary, members can compete according to their membership status, eg patrol hours.  Those that participate can attest to it being an incredibly rewarding element of life saving.  Not to mention keeping fit, training for a goal, ie national gold medal and for enjoyment.

​Coogee has a reputation nationally for producing high quality sprint competitors and being able to produce many teams across the age groups.  In 2023, Coogee won an impressive 43 medals across the team in season 2023 at the Branch, State and Aussies Championships.
 
Beach competition events are only run on sand and include:

• Beach Sprint: 70m up to U15 and Masters, 90m U17, U19 and Opens
• Beach Relay Teams: Teams of M/F and Mixed gender teams (excl Masters) of 4 race the baton across either a field of 70m each leg (U15 and Masters), Or 90m each leg for U17, U19 and Opens
• Distance Runs: 2km ages up to 60, 1km over 60
• Beach Flags: 15m – up to U15 and Masters, 20m U17, U19 and Opens

 
Beach Sprint
A sizzling, exuberant foot race of 70m or 90m across the sand with first across the line to win.  Competitors start on the line in a crouch position, exploding out of the starting blocks as fast as possible, employing high knees complemented by arms pumping and long stride length to get to the finish line first, no easy feat.  Sprinting on any surface is tough, but take into account the unpredictable and uneven surface that is sand provides a challenging event for any competitor.
 
Beach Relays
Always an exciting part of competition are the beach sprint relay team events held usually straight after sprint finals.  Based over the same distance as sprints, the relay teams are made up of four (4) team members with two competitors at one end and two at the other.  Competitors must transfer the baton from one to the other crossing the line at each end, with the fourth last runner to cross the line first to win.  The changeover points are the most exciting with often races won or lost on the changeover.   Competitors train across the season to perfect the baton changeover process.  Its an art form in itself.
 
Distance Runs
This is not only a physically demanding event, but a mentally demanding one too.  Long Distance runs are a much longer event than the shorter sprints  – 2000m as opposed to 70m/90m - but is a more evenly paced race that can be run across both soft and hard sand, so it is a challenging event.  2km distance for the up to 59 years of age, to a shorter 1km for the over 60’s.  Whilst its not a straight out sprint, some of the competitors are incredible with their pace not that far off a sprint race!  Competitors who do well in this event are often also middle distance grass competitors, cross country runners or half or marathon runners. 
 
Beach Flags
Always the “flagship” event at the National titles, Beach Flags rounds off the Beach events competition, with it usually being the final event in beach competition.  A favourite with the crowds, beach flags is physically competitive but is also mentally quite tough, with competitors requiring to conduct many rounds of jumping up and sprinting 20m to grab the flag, often dozens of times to come out victorious.   Flag competitors lie face down on the sand, chin on top of hands, feet must be together on the line with the body lying straight.  On the starter’s commands, the competitor must jump up, spin and sprint to the flag.  Knocking out one competitor at a time till the last flag is the winner.  Depending on the age groups there can be dozens of rounds to go through, the physical fitness must be just as tough as the mental for beach flags, not for the faint hearted!

Training times can vary. Morning & evening sessions at Coogee Oval and on the beach.

​For all enquiries please email [email protected]