The 2007 State Championships are underway, with the running of the R&R, Champion Lifesaver, Patrol and First Aid events on the weekend.
The R&R events were held on Saturday morning. Our Six Person team was a mixture of the experience of R&R stalwarts Mark Holland, Neil Johnson and Jeff Scott along with Kim Lovett (almost qualifying for "stalwart" status herself now), first timer Matt Pupazzoni and the return of Bronwen Scott to the City team for the first time in fifteen years. Despite limited training opportunities together they nearly pulled it off, finishing second by less than a point.
In the Under 17 Five Person event, the team of Jess Cohen, Kate Dromey, Lizzie Langdale, Nikki Avery and Ashleigh Crabtree also finished second, holding off the third placed Trigg team by just 0.12 points.
The Open Women's saw two City teams competing. In their fifth year together the team of Emily Mackaway, Kim Lovett, Rosie Langdale, Janelle Slattery and Jessie Smith produced their best-ever performance and a score that would have won the event any time in its history. Unfortunately the Trigg team pulled out an even better score, and the girls had to be staisfied with yet another silver. The Under 17 team, competing up in the Open division, won the bronze medal after experimenting with a new variation on the patient carry - the "patient float".
City finally struck gold in the last R&R event of the morning, the Open Men's Five Person. Veterans Mark Holland (the oldest competitor on the beach on the day), Jeff Scott and Neil Johnson were joined by youngsters Matt Crabtree and Matt Pupazzoni, and although their score wasn't as good as that of the Open Women, it was good enough to take the Men's title.
The last remaining R&R event, the Under 19, will be contested on the Sunday morning of the States weekend, with two City teams taking part.
With the R&R done, the Champion Patrol got underway. City's team was captained by Grant Trew and included 2006 Australian medallists Stephen Toth, Tim Trew, Kim Lovett and Rebecca Cohen. Plus they had gun board paddler Craig Simmonds. Despite a strong all-round performance, the team was left a close second to Scarboro - the margin less than a point.
The final events to be held Saturday were the First Aid teams championships. In what seems to have been the trend of the day, City finished second in each of the Open, Under 19 and Under 17 divisions. Grant Trew dumped 2006 Gold medal partner Stephen Toth in favour of cousin Tim Trew but wasn't able to secure the gold. Janelle Slattery and Rosie Langdale were the silver medallists in the Under 19, while Kate Dromey and Chloe Mills were the bridesmaids for the Under 17 competition. Special mention also to Mike Langdale for his Oscar-worthy "snakebite victim" performance.
The Champion Lifesaver events commenced on Wednesday night when competitors were assessed on Resuscitation and completed a 40 question theory paper. The physical components of the event - a surf race, board race, tube race and beach sprint - were completed at the Trigg carnival on Sunday.
Having won the last three Open Men's titles, Tim Trew was looking to equal the State record of four consecutive wins, previously achieved only by City members Jeff Scott and Grant Trew. After recording a rare perfect score in the Resuscitation assessment and a strong theory paper, Tim went into Sunday's events with a handy lead. Ben Carrick was sitting in third place and Rupert Baker fourth.
Strong performances in the Surf Race and Board Race allowed Ben to close the gap, with wins in both events. Tim then hit back with a win in the Tube to retain a narrow lead. The competitors didn't know it, but going in to the final Beach Sprint event Ben needed to beat Tim by at least two places to snatch the title. Although neither are noted beach sprinters, Ben proved the stronger over ninety metres claiming second place. Tim could only manage fifth, so Ben won the Open Men's title by just 1.5 points.
The Under 17 Women's championship was also a close affair. Going into Sundays events Kate Dromey was in third place, but with just nine points separating first from sixth it was still anybody's event. Kate's effort on the physical components then proved to be the strongest all-round performance, and she came through to win the gold by a single point.
Jess Cohen and Phoebe George were ranked second and third going into Sunday in the Under 15 Women's. Despite their best efforts they couldn't make up the ground and finished in those positions.
Kim Lovett again took on the challenge of the Open/Under 19 Women's double, and entered Sunday leading both events. Needing to contest each part of the event twice, Kim managed to pace herself perfectly and held first position in both categories. Jessie Smith also won the bronze medal in the Open event, and Janelle Slattery bronze in the Under 19.
