aussies 2015 on beach newspaper issue7

SUNDAY APRIL 19, 2015 • #AUSSIES100 • SLS.COM.AU/AUSSIES

THE GREATESTOF ALL TIMEECKSTEIN WINS IRONMAN TITLE #7

DAVID MOASE

GEORGIA Miller described it as one of the

best weeks of her life and no one at North

Kirra would disagree.

Miller competed in an almost endless

series of events across the Open and Under-19

areas and cemented her place as the leader of

the surf lifesaving’s Generation Next.

Competing at The Aussies in the colours

of Newport for the first time, Miller won

four gold medals, and a slew of minor

medals to be named Female Competitor of

the Carnival.

On the last day of competition she added

the under-19 Surf Race to her Open Surf

Race title before winning the Under-19

Ironwoman title for the second year in a row

and taking silver in the Open Taplin Relay.

She also won the Under-19 Board Rescue

with Lara Moses.

“It’s definitely one of my best weeks,”

Miller said after her Ironwoman win.

“I didn’t have a great board leg so I had to

use my best leg, the swim, to my advantage.

“Once I was in front on the ski I didn’t

want to do something stupid.”

Miller became the first Aussies

competitor to claim the Surf Race double

since Belinda Gladstone (Coogee) in 1997.

Wanda’s Stacey Gartrell also claimed the

double in 1993.

Only one other competitor has gone back

to back in the Under-19 Ironwoman, Lilli

Miller of North Wollongong in 1999/97.

WHAT DO YOU LOVE ABOUT THE AUSSIES?

“The competition, camaraderie and being able to see the same friends every

year. Sunday, finals day is also a highlight. It’s such a good spectator sport

and all the races are really exciting.”

“The atmosphere and the

amazing talent that’s out

here to watch.”

“The excitement and the

atmosphere. It’s fantastic

seeing all the big names you hear about and

seeing the young ones interact with them.”

COLIN LAING & JEFF BANKSNORTH ENTRANCE SLSC, NSW & FAIRY MEADOW SLSC, NSW

JEFF BEEREAVOCA SLSC, NSW

LEE PHILLIPS NORTHCLIFFE SLSC, QLD

LEFT: Female competitor of the carnival Georgia Miller shows off her medal haul.

DAVID MOASE

QUEEN Elizabeth of Ironwoman racing

now wears three crowns.

Liz Pluimers’ victory in the Open

Ironwoman made her the first woman

to win the sport’s triple crown – the

Coolangatta Gold, the Nutri-Grain

series and the Australian title – in the

same season.

It was her also second successive

Aussies triumph and could not have

come in more emphatic fashion.

The North Burleigh star opened

a 13-second lead in the ski leg and

extended it in the swim before

completely clearing away from her

pursuers as she turned the ski leg into

a lap of honour ahead of second placed

Rebecca Creedy (Northcliffe) and third

placed Amy Nurthen (Mooloolaba).

“Except for my start I think it all

came together perfectly,”

Pluimers said.

By the time Pluimers leapt on her ski

she appeared to have the race safely in

her keeping, before her pursuers ran

into trouble at the shore break, making

the win all but certain.

Questions about retirement were

also asked of Pluimers, who is getting

married in October, and she was non-

committal about being back to defend

her title in 2016.

“Good question, no-one knows,”

was her immediate response.

“I’m definitely coming back to do

the (Nutri-Grain) series next year but

that’s the only one that’s confirmed at

the moment.”

Pluimers enjoyed double gold

yesterday, taking out her fourth Open

Board Race title and her second in the

past two years.

ROYAL PROCESSION FOR OUR IRON LADY

GEORGIA COMPLETES A WEEK SHE WON’T FORGET

I It’s definitely one of my best weeks. Georgia Miller

02 | The Aussies 2015 Sunday April 19, 2015

DAVID MOASE

NEWPORT stepped up its resurgence when

it claimed the Open Men’s Taplin Relay, the

ultimate test of a club’s depth in board, swim

and ski.

The Sydney Northern Beaches club

became the first NSW club to win the Taplin

since 1996, finishing ahead of Redhead and

Surfers Paradise.

The team of Tom Atkinson, Max Brooks,

Kendrick Louis, Jonah Beard, Mitchell Trim

and Luke Morrison were in a tight tussle with

a handful of clubs early in the final but took

charge in the swim and ski legs.

“When I came to this club we had a plan

to build something special and this is the

ultimate reward,” Louis said.

Maroubra had been the last NSW club to

win the title, which has since been dominated

by Tugun and Northcliffe. The last Sydney

Northern Beaches club to win the Taplin final

was Manly in 1993.

The Open Women’s Taplin gold medal was

decided in a desperate four-team sprint to

the finish.

Long-legged Maroochydore ski paddler

Alyce Burnett surprised even herself with

her speed as she outran Hannah Minogue

(Newport) to grab the gold medal for teammates

Nicole Chapman and Laura Pettigrew.

North Burleigh and Manly were also in the

sprint finish, with Brodie Moir beating Naomi

Flood to the bronze medal.

DAVID MOASE

SHANNON Eckstein became undisputedly the

most successful Ironman in Australian Surf

Life Saving Championships history when he

claimed his seventh title at North Kirra today.

The win moved him ahead of his childhood

hero Trevor Hendy, who won six Aussies

Ironman gold medals.

Close the history books, the debate about

who is the greatest is over.

Eckstein ensured his place alone at the

top of the list of the best ironmen in typical

flawless style.

The Northcliffe star put himself in the

best positions, found the waves he needed

and won by so far he could slow to accept the

adulation of fans lining the finishing chute.

He was followed across the line by

Mooloolaba pair Matt Poole and Ali Day.

“It hasn’t sunk in; when I won six it still

didn’t sink in because so much had work goes

into them,” Eckstein said.

“That one was like last year. I got waves

when I needed to.

You create your own luck and if you get to

the front you get waves.

“I thought last year was perfect, but again

this was perfect.”

The gold medal was Eckstein’s 35th at the

Aussies, one short of the all-time record held

by Clint Robinson.

The bad news for Eckstein’s rivals – and

Robinson’s record – is that thoughts of

retirement seem as far from his mind as at any

time in the past couple of years.

“Mentally I’m pretty sure I can come back

next year,” he said.

“I’ve got an Achilles problem that I’ve had

for a couple of years and I can’t do the training

that I want to do.

“I’ve got a lot of time off now to think about

it, recover and get the body ready, more time

off than I’ve probably had in five years.

“I’m still enjoying the sport, and when you

see Trevor (Hendy) win like he did yesterday

I’m not going to talk of retirement when he’s

doing things like that.”

So many of the athletes from The Aussies have gone on to compete at the Olympics, but did you know that we even have at least one athlete who has gone on to compete at the Winter Olympics? Cam Bolton from Portsea and Half Moon Bay SLSC’s in Victoria did, competing in Snowboarding at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi.

DID YOUKNOW

ABOVE: The history books will show Shannon Eckstein is the greatest Ironman in The Aussies history.

FAR LEFT: Celebration time for the jubilant Newport Taplin Relay team (from L to R) Mitchell Trim, Max Brooks, Kendrick Louis, Luke Morrison, Jonah Beard and Tom Atkinson.

LEFT: Luke Morrison claims elusive gold.

I thought last year was perfect, but again this was perfect. Shannon Eckstein

NEW PORT FOR TAPLIN GOLD

ECKSTEIN CELEBRATES HIS MAGNIFICENT SEVEN

I When I came to this club we had a plan to build something special and this is the ultimate reward. Kendrick Louis

sls.com.au/aussies • #Aussies100 The Aussies 2015 | 03

RIGHT : Matt Poole overcame a back injury to claim the silver medal in the Open Ironman.

RIGHT : Luke Cuff gives everything for Mooloolaba in the men’s Open Taplin Relay final.

ABOVE : Jordan Mercer leads the pack during the Open Ironwoman final.

FAR RIGHT : Happy times for Double Ski gold medallist Alyce Burnett (left) and Brianna Massie.

RIGHT : Super Sunday had the crowd flocking to North Kirra.


LEFT : Under-17 Belt Race champion Ejay Schaffer celebrates with his Newport team.

LEFT : Burleigh girlies Brodie Moir (right) and Liz Pluimers relax with Northcliffe’s Devon Halligan before the Open Ironwoman final.

RIGHT : Ironwoman silver medallist Rebecca Creedy gave everything as she chased home winner Liz Pluimers.

BELOW : It took Nick Crilly 11 years to win his second Open Ski Race title and he enjoyed every minute of it.

RIGHT : Avoca Beach’s Kaitlyn Matuschka edges out Byron Bay’s Ela Heiniger for under-19 Ironwoman bronze.

BELOW : Northcliffe’s triumphant Aussies 2015 contingent celebrate the club’s 12th consecutive pointscore victory.

ABOVE : Three in a row for Redhead’s board paddling king Stewart McLachlan.

Championship photos available at harvpix.com


WHAT’S BEEN YOUR HIGHLIGHT AT THE AUSSIES?

“Competing in the Ironwoman.”

“Overall! Watching all of

the athletes put in place

all the hard work.”

“The March Past.” “Board Rescue.”

HARUKA NAKAMURANORTH BURLEIGH SLSC QLD

MIKE SCHETTER SURF LIFE SAVING SA

ROBYN PIERCELOCAL FROM THE GOLD COAST, QLD

MAO KAMIMURA NORTH BURLEIGH SLSC QLD

FINALS FEVER AS SURFBOATS CONCLUDE AT TUGUN

GRAHAM CALLAGHAN

ACCOMPANIED by the chorus of ‘We Are

the Mighty Mighty Vikings” Currumbin

Vikings saluted their two historic

champion boat crews at Tugun Beach.

The Currumbin Barbarians and the

Huscarls rowers had just won gold and

silver in the elusive open Australian

Surfboat championship and their

supporters went wild.

“We have been chasing this open title

for 10 years and it’s really a great feeling

to be a Viking when we have crews first

and third,” said winning Barbarians’

sweep Lyle Clark.

“We did pick up four silver medals

along the way but there is nothing like

gold. This is a dream come true.”

The Collaroy Gunners won the

under-23 men championship after Henley

was relegated to the silver for causing

interference. It was Henley’s first ever

boat medal since it formed in 1925. ABOVE: Mona Vale, swept by Matt Collins, surged home to beat Matt Hickey’s Currumbin

Drifters and Gerringong NABS to take the reserve grade gold.

VIKINGS FINALLY CLAIM ELUSIVE GOLD

ABOVE: The South Curl Curl Straw Hat Pirates

pulled off one of the closest wins of the day

when they won the open women’s.

ABOVE: Victorious Collaroy U23 men’s sweep

Gavin Scott steered his Knights to a hard-

earned championships victory over Palm

Beach Pints (NSW) and North Cronulla Blue.

ABOVE: Matt Mitchell’s Avoca were also the

toast of the beach after storming home to win

the men’s U19 title ahead of Caves Beach and

Cudgen Headland.

LEFT:

Collaroy

takes gold in

the under-23

women’s

following the

relegation of

Henley for

interference.


Did you know that the winning Open Surf Team in 1950 at The Aussies in Greenmount, was the first team ever to win with their team members crossing the line in 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th place. The team members from the left of the photo are Tassie Barnett, Max Stringer, Neil Stringer and John Vaughan from North Wollongong.

DID YOUKNOW

EMMA HANRAHAN

SHE’S the one to watch and is even harder

to catch.

North Bondi’s rising star, Lizzie Welborn,

literally sprinted from winning the under-17

Board final to compete in the Open final

which she finished in second place.

The young gun put the rest of the field to

shame blitzing the under-17 Ironwoman Race.

Both nervous and overwhelmed after

the race, Lizzie’s coach and handler Scott

Thompson said her achievements were well

deserved and guarantee’s she’s a little legend

in the making.

“My heart rate is at 180, I can tell you right

now,” Thompson said.

“Winning this event is just awesome

because I know how much commitment and

dedication she has put into it.”

Clearly filled with job, Lizzie showed us

she’s one to watch in the future, repeatedly

expressing her pride and amazement at what

she had just done.

“I can’t even believe it,” Lizzie said.

“I just love the sport, I want to make the

Nutri-Grain Series and keep on improving.”

PAUL COCHRANE

NORTH Cottesloe’s Tom Nolan survived

elimination, a protest and the challenge of

Australia’s best beach flag sprinters to defend

his national title.

The full field was recalled to North Kirra

after the event stalled on the first run in

fading light last night. Nolan was the first

man eliminated from the field but won

reinstatement on appeal.

“For a few hours I didn’t really know how

the protest was going to go and I was more

focused on that,” Nolan said.

“I’d seen a few of the replays which

affirmed what I thought so I was quite

confident in the process but you’re never

quite sure how the officials will interpret it.”

It went his way and eventually so did the

final, with the West Australian defeating

Collaroy’s Dean Scarff in the final two.

Veteran Simon Harris, The Aussies’ greatest

ever beach flag champion defied a broken

foot to reach the top three.

“I wasn’t really expecting that coming in. It

was a really tough final so to come away with

a medal, never mind taking it out back to back

is incredible,” Nolan said.

ELYCE BEHRSIN

IF you spent a day with the IRB crew you

wouldn’t expect that they would have time to

organise a function on top of everything they

already do.

But between organising the days of around

200 IRB workers Neil Whittaker and his team

managed to organise, and host their annual

‘Sergeant of Arms’ awards night, which went

off without a glitch on Wednesday night.

A number of fun and novelty awards were

handed out as well as two trophy awards, the

Chris Thornton Award, and the Rookie.

The event is really important for the

IRB fraternity as it not only acknowledges

the hard work the group has done but it

also enhances camaraderie as a lot of the

team come back for The Aussies every year

Whittaker explained to SLSA.

BETTER LATE THAN NEVER

SERGEANT OF ARMS

IS THIS THE END OF GOLD MEDAL FLOOD?

LEFT: Tom Nolan celebrates back-to-back gold medals in the Open Beach Flags.

ABOVE: North Bondi’s rising star Lizzie Welborn.

WELBORN TAKES PERFORMANCE TO LIZZY HEIGHTS

CHARLIE PUTS SHEEN ON MEDAL HAUL

I just love the sport, I want to make the Nutri-Grain Series and keep on improving. Shannon Eckstein

MORGANA JONES

AT a carnival full of the biggest names

in surf lifesaving, Charlie Brooks has

been crowned its King.

The Newport teenager capped an

Aussies meet that reaped five gold

and two silver medals by being named

the male athlete of the carnival.

His final day performance featured

victory in the under-17 Ironman, a

race his brother Max won in 2012.

“It is always hard living up to him,

he has done so well, but he always

been pushing me at training,”

Charlie said.

“This win is just so good,

especially with all the Newport boys

supporting me and the crowd is just

unbelievable.”

DAVID MOASE

IT might be six and out for ski race

champion Naomi Flood.

The Manly star, who was

competing in her 16th Aussies, won

her fifth consecutive Open Ski Race,

and her sixth in total.

With her attention now turned to

next year’s Rio Olympics, Flood, the

Open Ironwoman champion in 2006,

may not return to the sand in her

beloved sky blue cap.

Meanwhile, Nick Crilly turned back

the clock to win the Open Ski Race.

It was 11 years since Crilly’s first

victory, and the North Burleigh

paddler was ecstatic as he outlasted

fast-finishing defending champion

Lachlan Tame (Avoca Beach), with Bill

Bain (Mooloolaba) third.

“It has been a difficult year,” he

said after embracing his wife and two

young children.

“My mum’s had cancer and we’ve

had a new bub, but I do it for them.”


SURF LIFE SAVING AUSTRALIA WOULD LIKE TO THANK OUR VALUED PARTNERS

MAJOR EVENT PARTNER

EVENT PARTNERS

MAJOR NATIONAL PARTNERS

FACEBOOK.COM/LIFESAVING @SLSAUSTRALIA @SLSAUSTRALIAYOUTUBE.COM/USER/SLSAUSTRALIA

JOIN THE CONVERSATIONABC Grandstand @abcgrandstand

Trevor Hendy says the unexpected

gold won with his son TJ yesterday

at #Aussies100 was better than any

#Ironman win

Matt Poole @ matt_poole1

STOKED!! The back wasn’t feeling

great but I’ve managed to get myself

into the #Aussies100 Ironman Final

Alyce Burnett @alyceburnett

What a way to wrap up #Aussies100!!!

GOLD in the Open Taplin with two of

the best

Margie McDonald @

MadgetheBadge

If you are EVER in trouble on a beach

you’d want these 2 - 13 Ironmen

titles - Hendy/Eckstein...Perfection

#Aussies100

CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT : @shannglassonphotography, Shannon Glasson@ashleighgrace94, Ashleigh Grace@tarynlove7, Taryn Love@breemasters

#AUSSIES100 PICS OF THE DAY

IF YOU MISSED OUT CONTACT OUR OFFICIAL SUPPLIERS VIA EMAIL AT

[email protected] CALL

03 9417 0707

AUSSIES 2015

MERCHANDISE

ON BEACH PRODUCTION TEAM: Paul Cochrane, Elyce Behrsin, Andrea Bryce, Emma Hanrahan, Abigail Blaikie, Morgana Jones (SLSA Media Team); Tom Parsons (SLSA Design); Ian Hanson, David Moase (Hanson Media); Harvie Allison, Kate Czerny, Shanta Allison, John Veage, Shannon Glasson (Harvpix.com)


aussies 2015 on beach newspaper issue7

Documents