The 2009 State Championships has officially kicked off, with the "Lifesaving" events conducted at the weekend. City is off to an impressive start, with five gold medals won.
The weekend began with the Champion Patrol competition at Sorrento on Saturday morning. Comprised mainly of youth, plus a little experience thrown in, the team of Kim Lovett, Craig Simmonds, Josh Walker, Jesse George, Jess Cohen and Jeff Scott put in a solid performance on little preparation and came away with the gold medal. The morning's highlight was perhaps the return to competitive board paddling of team veteran Jeff, whose last clear recollection of paddling a board in an actual race goes back to Geraldton in the late 90s. But all that Sunday morning Nippers practice at pushing the kids down waves and leaving them to it came in handy near the finish.
Integrated into the Senior Carnival held on Saturday afternoon were the Champion Lifesaver physical events - a Surf Race, Board Race, Tube Race and Beach Sprint. Flying the flag for City were Kim Lovett in the Open Women's event, Josh Walker and Jesse George in the Under 19 Men's, and Jess Cohen in the Under 17 Women. All performed solidly, ready for the second half of the competition on Sunday.
On Sunday morning, the First Aid teams were in action at Trigg. Rik Lovett has been preparing teams for many weeks now, and the hard work Rik has done for a few years now paid off. Celebrity cheer-squad leader Alicia Marriott wattched on as City teams won Gold in the Under 15 (Chantelle Green and Honor Lane), Under 17 (Roshann Davies and Mundawae Sanderson-Green) and Under 19 (Josh Walker and Jesse George) divisions. We also had three Open teams, who finished in second (Kim Lovett and Janelle Slattery), fifth (Jane Scott and Brett Wakefield) and seventh (David McRae and Natalie Law) places.
The weekend rounded off with the theory and resuscitation sections of the Champion Lifesaver events. Once again we were in the medals, with Josh and Jesse finishing first and second respectively in the Under 19 Men's, and Kim getting the bronze in the Open Women's. Jess Cohen finished fourth in the Under 17 Women's event.
The weekend's tally of five gold, two silver and a bronze gives the club a good kick-off for the main State Championships weekend in two weeks time.
Anyone get any photos? Email me!
