There are now only a few days before the 2008 Australian Championships kick off at Scarborough. A veteran of many an Aussies trip, Steve Cohen has studied the form and tells you what to watch and who will finish where.
The views represented in this article having nothing to do with those of the club policy or selection committee. They are based on an independent view of events over the 2007-8 season. Apologies to anyone left out or for whom the prediction proves to be harsh. The author would love to be proved wrong by a member who can do better than anyone expected. Good luck to all.
Remember there will be a team meeting back at the club each evening starting Wednesday evening at 6.30 so you can get all the latest results from the coaches and hear all the information first hand from our Surf Sports Officer Steve Carrick.
Make sure you have the phone numbers for everyone you need to have including coaches, area managers and team managers.
The whole competition kicks off with what many consider to be the premier event of the carnival. The Champion Lifesaver competition is the true test of all the life saving skills and City has racked up some pretty impressive performances over the past few years.
Our own Jeff Scott is the only West Australian refereeing an arena at these championships. All events will take place in the Lifesaving arena that is based at the Trigg Island Surf Club and begins at 9am.
These events in the past heavily favoured the theoretical lifesaving aspect with a lesser standard in the water event. This has changed significantly over the past two championships with a more even standard and some very high-class athletes including Jenny Parry (Australian Team Member) from Maroochydore in the event.
In the Open Women's Kim Lovett, a previous winner of the U/17 and U/19 Australian title represents us. Kim is strong on the theory but has she done enough work in the pool and on the water?
Prediction: Kim would be very happy to medal in Open company.
Grant Trew is a reserve in the Open Men and would be likely to get a run but lets say the twins have limited his preparation. He has plenty of experience and would expect a top 5 finish.
Duncan Jacob is our representative in the Under 19 Men and he will need to have his head in the book. Duncan has the physical capacity to mix it with the best in this event even without too much training.
Prediction: Duncan a dark horse for a medal.
Josh Walker is our Under 17 Male Rep and he has the right balance of brains and hard work in the pool this year to make a mark in this event.
Prediction: Hardware for Josh - what colour will depend on how much he listens to the older heads around him.
Jess Cohen is a Reserve in the U/17 Women's and would be likely to get a start. Like Josh, to make an impression at the end of the event she will have needed to listen to the older heads. Jess has the brains but not done quite enough hard work in the water to collect hardware. Is an Under17 again next year so this should provide valuable experience for next year.
Prediction: Top 8 finish.
The day of the Champion Patrol Competition and Under 15 First Aid again held out of Trigg Island Surf Club starting at 9am.
The Open Champion Patrol competition has been a slowly developing beast for City with a bronze in 2006 and a silver in 2007 so what is it to be this year? The team of Grant Trew, Steve Toth, Emma Richards, Craig Simmonds, Kim Lovett and Rosie Langdale boast plenty of lifesaving skill experience. Only concern may be the water events with no real specialist swimmer and a few lacking a lot of water time this year. They should blow the scenario and theory away.
Prediction: It's hard to see the team progressing to Gold but a medal should be in the offing.
The Under 17 Patrol competition will be wide open and our team of Josh Walker, Jess Cohen, Chloe Mills and Kate Dromey boast plenty of Champion Lifesaver experience. They combine brains and water ability with the only concern being how focused the team can remain during the event.
Prediction: A medal - the colour will depend on how serious they take the event.
The U/15 First Aid is the starting point for a niche in the club being quietly fostered by Rik Lovett. The team of Roshann Davies and Preston Kelly are prepared well by Rik and should use the competition as an experience and a stepping-stone for future championships.
At 3pm in the Masters Woman's Arena will be the Semi Finals of the Lifesaver Relay with the first three teams going through to the Final on Saturday morning at 8am. Our team of the Boat crew of Shane Bowler, Damon Hansen-Kharnoi, Andrew Kelly, Paul Long and Geoff Wilson, Ski Paddler Kristian Hawkless, Board, Alicia Marriott, Swimmer James Cohen and U/17 Runner Sean McKenna will need to be at their best to make the final. Forget history in this event, it will be all about our ski paddler matching it with the best and Alicia stepping up to the challenge of competing against the men on the board as she did so admirably at the States. It will be a fantastic effort if we make the final but this appears a little out of our reach this year.
Prediction: Fourth or fifth in the Semi.
