The 2005 State Championships have been run and won, with City reclaiming the Surf Champions flag and along the way winning a record 64 Gold medals.
The States began some time ago, with City featuring highly in the boardriding, Champion Patrol, Champion Lifesaver and R&R events.
The main weekend kicked off early Saturday morning in small surf and unsettled weather, and it didn't take long for City to be among the winners, with Jono Stock and Alicia Marriott combining to win the Under 19 Mixed Double Ski. A little later in the morning, Steve Hopkins and Lisa Oldenhof completed the Mixed Double Double by taking out the Open event.
Board rescues were also on early, and again this was a very successful area for the club. Jono Stock and Jake Cropper got things underway in the men's arena with a strong win in the Under 19's, with James Cohen and Ben Carrick in second (just a warmup for the Under 17's, which they then won).
With Jacinta Marriott unable to compete at all after an unfortunate incident with a plate glass window, her regular partner and sister Alicia teamed up with Australian Under 19 Champion partner Emma Wynne for both the Open and Under 19 events, winning both. Matilda Sydenham and Alex Stock picked up the bronze in the Under 19 event.
In the Open Men's event Jono Stock and Tim Trew combined brilliantly after being third to the cans to come home with the gold, followed by Scott Trew and Chris Timms in second. Old boys James O'Toole and Luke Watson also put in a cameo appearance with a fourth placing.
Meanwhile in the Under 15 arena Harry Whitehand and Jeremy Stock took out their event from Tom Dowling and Jesse George. Then Jess Walker and Amy Wynne got the silver in their event to complete a set of six gold, four silver and a bronze to City from the eight events.
While the heats of the Tube races were on, the central arena saw one of Surf Life Savings oldest events, the Belt races. While our Open swimmers Tothy and Hoppy had a few unfortunate equipment hiccups, Matt Pupazzoni had no such problems and took out the Under 19 race with a strong swim.
In the Tube finals, the Under 17 girls produced a trifecta with Emma Wynne, Fiona Doney and Katuschka Taylor-Miller taking the medals. Duncan Jacob and James Cohen were second and third in the Under 17 boys event, and Jess Walker picked up another silver in the Under 15 girls.
The Under 19 Ironman and Ironwoman finals were next. Alicia Marriott won her third championship in the Ironwoman, while Jono Stock broke through for his first Ironman win.
Meanwhile on the beach the heats of the flags had been going on. Once the finalists for Sunday were decided, the Beach Relays began. City had the strongest all round beach relay team we've ever had, and they produced an extraordinary result - six silvers and a bronze from the eight events! An amazingly successful performance, but also one to leave the team wondering who you have to see to buy a bit of luck.
In the water it was relay time as well, with the board and ski relays underway. The Under 15 girls kicked things off with a silver, then Jeremy Doney, Jeremy Stock and Harry Whitehand went one better in the Under 15 boys event.
The Open Men picked up a bronze, then the Under 17 team of James Cohen, Corey Tidey and Ben Carrick took the gold in their event. Ben then teamed up with Jono Stock and Luke Tidey for another gold in the Under 19's.
In Jacinta Marriott's absence, experienced paddler Alison O'Toole stepped up to the Open Women's 'A' team, joining Alicia Marriott and Emma Wynne to take the gold. Alicia and Emma then joined Alex Stock in the Under 19's for another win. The Under 17 team of Kim Lovett, Katuschka Taylor-Miller and Fiona Doney had to settle for silver in their event.
The Open Women's Ski Relay team of Kate Forgione, Lisa Oldenhof and Alicia Marriott also paddled their way to a comfortable victory.
The day was finished off with the surf teams races, a traditionally strong area for City. The Under 15 girls got things underway with a bronze, then the Under 15 boys team took the gold in their event.
We had two teams in the Under 19 Women's race, and they made recording easy for the judges by crossing the line first, second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth. Emma Wynne, Fiona Doney and Katuschka Taylor-Miller then went straight from the finish line to the start line for the Under 17 race, joined by Jess Walker (fresh from her Under 15 event) for another gold.
The City A team of Jono Stock, James Cohen, Matt Pupazzoni and Jake Cropper in the Under 19 Men's also took the gold medal, with most of the second placed B team using that as a warmup swim for the gold in the Under 17's. But for the first time in nearly thirty years, we didn't get a medal in the Open Men's event.
As Sunday dawned, there was an air of excitement around the club tent as the feeling grew that we were going to give the overall pointscore a real shake.
The first event away was the Lifesaver Relay, the all-round club event combining a boat crew, ski, board, swim and run, as well as including an Under 19, an Under 17 and at least one female in the team. After the A-Crew of Geoff Wilson, Todd Bowler, Darren Gore, Marc Goodall and Damon Hansen's opening and Jono Stock's board leg we sat in third place. That didn't daunt ski paddler Steve Hopkins who put in a huge effort to pick up one place and put the gold within sight of Under 17 swimmer James Cohen. James swam a blinder and Amanda England ran to the finish line for gold.
At the other end of the beach the last of the R&R events was being decided, the Under 19's. The team of Emily Mackaway, Kim Lovett, Jessie Smith, Rosie Langdale and Janelle Slattery had already won silver medals in both the Under 17 and Open Women's events, and had to settle for yet another silver this time as well.
The water arenas then moved on to the Under 15 and 17 Cameron Relays, a chance for the water and beach competitors to combine. James Cohen and Ben Carrick combined with runners Grant Shepherd and Tom Bragg to win the Under 17 Men's race, while the Under 17 Women's was won by the team of Fiona Doney, Emma Wynne, Jess Richards and Hannah McKenzie.
The Under 15 girls team of Jess Walker, Amy Wynne, Rachel Kelly and Courtney Forrest also won, and while the Under 15 boys couldn't quite snatch the gold, the two City teams did come in second and third.
The beach arena got underway with the finals of the Beach Flags events. Dean Scarff successfully defended his Under 19 Men's title, and Aidi Hinkes also came away with the Gold - the club's first win in the Under 15/16 girls since 1993.
Four times Open Women's Beach Flags Champion Renee McCabe also returned to competition but couldn't quite make it five, finishing second.
The Single Ski finals were on in the water by this time. A broken paddle ended Alicia Marriott's bid to win the Under 19 Women's event, but Rosie Langdale hung in for the bronze medal. Kate Forgione then won her fifth Open Women's Ski title in succession with another strong performance.
At the south end of the beach, the City boaties were battling out the Boat Relay, finishing in third place.
Our Open March Past team have been working hard in the leadup to the States, and went in with high hopes. Unfortunately they had to settle for second place, as did the Under 21's.
Board races were next. Harry Whitehand put in a huge paddle in the Under 15 Men's, leading back into the break before a wave brought some of the chasers up to him, leaving him third in the run up the beach. Jess Walker had better luck in the Under 15 Women's, leading the field all the way before getting a wave to the beach all on her own.
Alicia Marriott was first in the Open Women's event, and Emma Wynne first in the Under 17's. Alicia then went around again to win the Under 19 race, with Alex Stock second.
In the Men's arena, Ben Carrick hit the beach in a tight pack and managed to run through for bronze. Jono Stock took out the Under 19 event, but not before being given a scare by a fast-finishing Luke Tidey.
News came through at about this stage that we were trailing by just a few points on the carnival pointscore, but the tide was about to turn with the Surf Race finals coming up. The Under 15's started things off with a one-two finish for Tom Dowling and Jeremy Stock in the boys race, and another gold to Jess Walker in the girls.
Jono Stock came in third in the Open Men's, while Alicia Marriott was second in the Open Women's. Duncan Jacob picked up another bronze in the Under 17 Men's, before Emma Wynne, Fiona Doney and Katuschka Taylor-Miller took all the medals in the Under 17 Women's.
If the trifecta there wasn't good enough, the Under 19 Men went the quadrella with Jono Stock, Jake Cropper, Matt Pupazzoni and Luke Tidey filling the first four places. Alicia Marriott won the Under 19 Women's, with Alex Stock third.
The beach sprinters were up to finals by this stage as well. Dean Scarff has been flying on the sand this summer, and lived up to his favourite tag in the Under 19 Men's race, taking the gold with Craig Simmonds in the bronze medal position.
Robert Slattery came away with silver in the Under 15 Men's, as did Amanda England in the Open Women's.
The Open Men's final was a much-anticipated affair with Dean Scarff up against Shane Buchan, the winner of the last two State titles. Also in the field were seasoned campaigner Brett Slocombe and Dean's older brother Hish, both members of City's 1994 World Championship winning relay team.
But youth prevailed over experience, Dean becoming the third person in WA Surf history to win the Beach Sprint double - the only others to do it were City members Frank Croft in 1941 and Leigh Buchan in 1978. Shane Buchan took the silver medal, while back in fifth place Slocs was trying to figure out how he would be able to spend most of the coming week doing physio on himself.
Back in the water, the Ironman and Ironwoman finals were on. Jess Walker followed up her wins in the surf and board races by combining them for a gold in the Under 15 Ironwoman. Jeremy Stock took out the Under 15 Men, with Harry Whitehand in third place, Tom Dowling fourth, Lachie Wynne fifth and Jeremy Doney sixth.
Emma Wynne was a comfortable winner in the Under 17 Ironwoman, with Katuschka Taylor-Miller holding out Fiona Doney for third. Second in the Under 17 Ironman was James Cohen.
Luke Watson as always put in a great showing in the Open Ironman after another summer of training alone in the dark, but couldn't quite hold the leaders and finished third. Alicia Marriott comfortably defended her Open Ironwoman crown from last year with Alison O'Toole in second place.
The all-round strength of the water competitors was then tested in the Taplin relays. The Under 19 team of Ben Carrick and Jake Cropper on boards, Jono Stock and Luke Tidey on skis, and James Cohen and Matt "starfish" Pupazzoni swimming all put in a huge effort to claim an emotional victory in their event.
The Open Women's teams had to be rearranged with Jacinta Marriott out, with Emma Wynne moving from swimming to board paddling and Fiona Doney promoted to swim in the A team. After tight board and ski legs from Emma and Kate Forgione in one team, and Alicia Marriott and Lisa Oldenhof in the other, the two City teams hit the water together for the final swim leg trailing the two Scarboro teams - one of which included Olympic swimmer Rachel Harris.
But there's no black line to follow in the ocean, and the two Scarboro swimmers headed way off line to the north. Just behind them, Bec Cohen swimming for City B held her nerve and followed here own line, taking Fiona with her. The Scarboro girls realised their error and corrected, but not before adding some forty or fifty metres to their course and the teams regrouped at the cans. Scarboro's Harris led back in, but a sensational piece of wave catching from Fiona brought her level at the water's edge, and a run leg no-one knew she had in her saw City take the gold, with Bec bringing the other team in for the bronze.
All that remained were the boats. Although not the huge force in boats that we once were, we had more crews around the mark this year than we've had in some time. While Grant Trew's young crew just missed the final of the Open Women's, Robbie Somerford's girls got there and just missed out on the medals.
Steve Bowler and the Reserve crew just scraped into their final after a few friendly discussions with the judges, but then lifted a notch to take the silver medal. And in the last event of the carnival, Geoff Wilson's A Crew gave it a shake but again finished in second position.
In the final carnival pointscore, we reclaimed the champions banner by a margin of some 77 points.
The medal tally:
| Gold: | 64 | |
| Silver: | 46 | |
| Bronze: | 27 |
I've tried to give a mention to all the medallists - apologies if I've missed you out!
[States Gold Medallists]
[States Photos] - Email me with any good photos you have
