The 2008 State Championships have begun to be decided, with the Champion Lifesaver events run over the weekend. City are on the board early, with two Gold medals won.
The competition began on Saturday, with the theory paper and resuscitation sections completed. The physical components of the event - a surf race, tube race, board race and beach sprint - were contested at the Trigg carnival on Sunday.
Defending Women's champion Kim Lovett produced another solid performance across all aspects of the competition to again win the gold medal by a margin of five points from Trigg's Hayley McKee.
In the Under 17 Men, first time competitor Josh Walker established a handy lead in Saturday's components, before winning three of the four races on Sunday to win the event comfortably from Callum Ilich of Geraldton.
The Open Men's competition has seen many close finishes in recent years, and this year was no exception. Unfortunately for Grant Trew, it was Trigg's Trent Stapleton who took the title this year, by a margin of just half a point. This ends a golden run for City, with 1999 being the last time we didn't win this event. For Grant, it's also the third time in the last five years that he's been beaten to the gold medal by a point or less.
In the Under 17 Women's event, Jess Cohen won the silver medal behind Trigg's Natalie Dreibergs. Jess also doubled up to contest the Open event, where she finished third.
The State Championships will continue next weekend, with the running of the R&R, Champion Patrol and First Aid events.
