Aussie Titles 2024 - Masters & Opens (Teams & Individuals)

Published: May 02, 2024 Last Updated: May 03, 2024

Day one of Aussies 2024 proudly saw our Club Captain, Anthony W, battling it out at Alex SLS Club in the Champion Life Saver event, which he had to previously qualify for to compete at a national level. Assessments included theory, live patients and board/tube races. Points he acheived saw him come in 5th out of 9 Masters (and only two points behind a medal).

Eight of our members competed at Mooloolaba in the 2 km Ocean Swim. Light winds, gentle swell and blue sky made for great conditions Linda Barnes won a bronze in the female 40-44 years, David Stebbing came in 5th in the 30-34 category (even with a few kicks to the head while racing 😂 - good work on not giving up!).

Masters events were well represented by Coolum with 14 male competitors and 4 females competitors on the Monday and Tuesday. Our male competitors were busy all-day with competition across boards, skis, swim, irons and board rescues - their surf skills and hard work training paid off with there being lots of standout moments for our Coolum team!  We had individuals that made quarters and/or semis, and the club masters came 15th in the country!

Well done to the taplin team: Ross Fountain, Dave Stebbing and Kirk Millson. Our 140 Male Beach Relay team grabbed a close 4th out of 8 teams, with speed and text book change overs.  (The training session with Chris A the week before may have paid off). Great work Del, David, Jake and Kirk giving the bronze team a round for their money. Kirk and David managed a 6th in the Board Rescue Finals for the 30-34 category. Anthony made semis in the individual boards and Kirk qualified for finals in his age group for boards coming in respectable 12th. Our double ski team had Paul G and Basil C in the 65-69 age group, did us proud with fifth place. As did our 110 board relay team made up of David, Anthony and Kirk, coming in 12th place out of 16 teams. Ricco grabbed a top 8th placing out of 34 swimmers in his age group which was a real standout performance, catching a bomb out the back; Coolum surf skills on display! David Stebbing showed off his swimming skills with a sweet 5th place in his 30-34 years individual surf race.

These are just some of the highlights. All competitors showed up with enthusiasm and excelled in their skills!

Thanks to coach Nic, who was setting up tents from Friday, and had a number of days of early morning starts and late finishes.

Thanks to officials, family supporters, the club and SLSA.