the aussies 2015 on beach newspaper issue4

FRIDAY APRIL 17, 2015 • #AUSSIES100 SLS.COM.AU/AUSSIES

IS IT MILLERTIME?GEORGIA CHASING IRONWOMAN DOUBLE

EVEN Aussies legend Trevor Hendy

couldn’t help but be amused when he

noticed this photo of himself on the

100 Years of The Aussies lightboxes.

“Gee, who’s that young bloke?,”

the six-time Australian Ironman

Champion said as he checked out The

Aussies memorabilia on display.

He was in action at North Kirra

yesterday competing in the Open

Board Race.

AUSSIES LEGEND TAKES A STROLL DOWN MEMORY LANE

DO YOU HAVE A PRE-RACE SUPERSTITION?

“I have to get a kiss off

my coach, Jiff Lemonseed

before each race.”

“I have to tap my head

five times as soon as I stand on the start line.” “Chocolate bullets are the key to

Masters success.”

“You can’t eat fish!

Otherwise it’s bad luck as the fish help you

out there.”

BEN COOPERALEX HEADLAND SLSC, QLD

JACKSON MAYNARDCURRUMBIN SLSC, QLD

HELEN DEAS, ALLISON ROBERTS AND SHARON DEANSCOOGEE SLSC, NSW

CAITLIN CALLAHANBYRON BAY SLSC, NSW

LEFT: Veteran producer Murray Lomax at the helm of The Aussies 2015 broadcast.

ABBY BLAIKIE

KEEPING cameras across more than 400

events being contested by around 7000

competitors at three venues is a big job on

anyone’s scale.

It left me wondering, how do they make it

happen? So I decided to spend a day with the

Castle Media team to get an idea of how the

surf hits the screen.

The fact is, experience counts. The

Aussies 2015 is part of the Summer of Surf

series being broadcast on Fox Sports. The

team has been at all the big surf lifesaving

events this summer.

Murray Lomax, who works behind the

scenes as a Producer and Director, says they

have three main jobs.

“Firstly, the big screen coverage so people

here know what’s going on,” Murray said.

“Then there is providing the pictures for

the live stream coverage on the five selected

days on the internet, and of course to produce

two, two hour programs for Fox Sports.”

The 25-strong Broadcast Crew, most

of who are freelancers, carry out these

three tasks throughout the nine days of

competition.

“We’re like a band,” Murray said.

“We all know how to play our own

instruments. It’s just working out how to

work together.”

The team includes editors, producers,

camera crew and audio operators. Quite a

small team for the amount of work they do in

their 10-hour days.

“If it was being live streamed to TV stations

there would be 100 plus people working on

it,” Lomax said.

Clearly a successful Broadcast team relies

on every member understanding which

instrument their teammates play and making

sure that the musicians work together to

make good music.

JACQUELINE GREEN

THEY’RE the events at the core of what the

surf life saving movement is all about. Treating

members of the public, keeping beaches safe

and acting swiftly in times of need.

Bilinga is playing host this week to the Life

Saving component of the program. It features

the Champion Lifesaver, Patrol Competition

and First Aid events.

It provides an opportunity to demonstrate

the physical and mental skills required to be

a lifesaver, honing in on the traditional and

cultural aspects of Australian Surf Life Saving.

“The first aid competition enhances their

Surf Life Saving skills. It’s the things they do

on the beach all the time. The scenarios are

realistic and are set around Surf Life Saving

and events that can happen day to day on

patrol,” lifetime Queenscliff member Barry

Antella OAM said.

The first aid event has set simulated

accident scenarios, each to be completed

within a set time frame.

“A lot of the patrolling on the beach

involves first aid, and this particular event is

run to really hone in on those skills. A lot of

scenarios that we do are based around what

you might find on a busy beach,” Official

Adrienne Lowe said.

The Open Patrol competition saw a

changing of the guard with Alexandra

Headland SLSC ending the 13 year reign of

Northcliffe to win the gold.

It was an “Alex” clean sweep with Bradley

Doughan and Kate Thornton winning the

Champion Lifesaver events. Bradley edged

out Michael White who had won the event for

the past five years.

BROADCASTERS BAND TOGETHER TO SURF THE WAVES

BREATH OF LIFE AT BILINGALEFT: Noosa Heads participating in the First Aid competition at Bilinga.

If it was being live streamed to TV stations there would be 100 plus people working on it. Murray Lomax

The first aid competition enhances their Surf Life Saving skills. Barry Antella OAM

02 | The Aussies 2015 Friday April 17, 2015

DAVID MOASE

THE Shannon Eckstein-led reign of

Northcliffe in the Open Men’s Surf Teams will

continue for another year.

Eckstein crossed the line in second

place in yesterday’s final, behind Olympic

swimmer Tom Fraser-Holmes, to lead yet

another dominant performance from the

powerhouse club.

His team-mates Caine Eckstein, Jordan

Harrison and Sam Sheppard all finished in the

top 11 to lose just 22 points, and win ahead of

Mooloolaba (57 points) and the Northcliffe B

team, which was tied with Elouera and Manly

but won bronze on a countback.

It was the eighth consecutive triumph in

the Surf Teams for Northcliffe, with Eckstein

present for every triumph since 2006.

“You look back through who has been

in the teams – Jeremy Cotter, Zane Holmes,

Pierce Leonard have been in them, Caine has

been in a lot – so it’s pretty special to be part

of this,” the Ironman champion said.

“I get quite nervous before this event. It

means a lot to us.”

It might have been eight years since

Fraser-Holmes’ last swam in a serious surf

race but he is quickly getting rid of any rust

and showed with his speed across the bank

he will be right in the mix for Saturday’s Open

Surf Race final.

Even by Northcliffe’s lofty standards the

finish of the Open Women’s Surf Teams final

was a terrific achievement.

As the leading swimmers emerged from

the surf it was a wave of maroon and white

with the club filling the first six places and

taking the first two spots in the final placings.

Noosa Heads was third.

Kristyl Smith, swimming for the B team,

crossed the line first, followed by the A team

quartet Eliza Smith, Courtney Hancock,

Rebecca Creedy and Harriet Brown.

Sixth place was filled by 17-year-old C team

swimmer Greta Petersen, who then stepped

onto the start line for the under-19 final and

placed second to lead her team to victory.

“I really didn’t expect to come sixth in the

open race,” Petersen said.

“Those two swims are my best at an

Aussies so far. I think I’m a lot fitter and

stronger this year.

“I’m really positive for the next couple of

days competing in the Surf Race in Opens and

under-19s.”

Northcliffe’s under-19s finished ahead

of Mooloolaba and City of Perth, while the

club made it a golden trifecta when it took

out the under-17 Surf Teams from Manly

and Mooloolaba.

Did you know that Pt Lonsdale (VIC) not only won the invitation/demonstration Women’s Boat Race at The Aussies 1995 but they also won the first ever official Open Women’s Boat race at The Aussies at Kurrawa, 1997. Both times with a slightly different team?

DID YOUKNOW

BUNDABERG SLSC has around 180 members and was formed in 1921.

Due to such small numbers they combine with neighbouring clubs

Moore Park and Elliot Heads when it comes to competing at The

Aussies, training under the guidance of Craig Holden.

With two boat teams, three Masters competitors and two Open

athletes, a strong team of 15 has made the journey to contest The

Aussies. Emma Finnis has already won the club a silver medal in the

under-19 Champion Life Saver competition.

Not only are they home to some wonderful Surf Life Savers, they

hold the record for winning the most Open March Pasts at The Aussies.

CLUB IN FOCUSBUNDABERG SLSC, QUEENSL AND

FAR LEFT: Northcliffe’s winning open Surf Team (from L to R) Sam Sheppard, Jordan Harrison, Shannon Eckstein and Caine Eckstein.

LEFT: Tom Fraser-Holmes emerges from the surf ahead of the field.

IAN HANSON

NEWPORT’S defending Australian Under

19 ironwoman champion Georgia Miller has

successfully qualified for the next rounds of

the Under 19 and Open ironwoman events.

The winner of 11 gold medals, including

the Under 19 and Open Ironwoman double

at NSW State Championships, won her heat

of the open ironwoman yesterday ahead

of two-time National Champion Kristyl

Smith (Northcliffe) and Danielle McKenzie

(Northcliffe).

She then backed up to finish third in heat

two of the under 19s to Avoca ski star Kaitlin

Matuschka and Lana Rogers (Noosa Heads).

The rescheduled program will now

see the Open ironwoman semi-finals first

up tomorrow morning with the Under 19

quarter-finals.

The open heats also saw defending

champion Liz Pluimers won heat two from

North Burleigh team mate Tara Coleman with

Allira Richardson, now representing Cooks

Hill, third.

Pluimers and Coleman combined

yesterday with heat four winner Brodie Moir

to win the women’s open board relay gold.

She won her heat from Devon Halligan

(Northcliffe) and Jordan Mercer (Noosa).

The other heat saw Northcliffe trio,

2012 Australian champion Rebecca Creedy

(Northcliffe) win from 2011 and 2013 winner

Courtney Hancock, with Maddy Dunn third.

MEANWHILE Ali Day is chasing a perfect

end to a memorable season as he eyes the

Open Ironman final.

The Mooloolaba star, who won his first

Kellogg’s Nutri-Grain series in January,

progressed safely through the opening round

of the ironman today.

Along with Day, all of the top contenders

qualified for the quarter-finals of the Ironman

that will be raced on Friday.

The first round heats were won by Dane

Farrell (Elouera), Cory Taylor (Northcliffe),

Caine Eckstein (Northcliffe), Max Beattie

(Northcliffe), Tim Schofield (Terrigal), Matt

Bevilacqua (Mooloolaba) and Shannon

Eckstein (Northcliffe).

Among the qualifiers for the quarter-finals

were five former winners of the Open Ironman

title, Shannon Eckstein, Ky Hurst (Kurrawa),

Pierce Leonard (Southport), Nathan Smith

(Manly) and Cam Cole (Mooloolaba).

GEORGIA LOOMS AS DOUBLE TROUBLE IN IRONWOMAN

NORTHCLIFFE SWIMMERS CELEBRATE CLUB’S GREAT EIGHT

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

RIGHT : Bulli boys battling a rare wave.

RIGHT : Jett Kenny jetting toward the finish line.

RIGHT : Udaera dolupis sitatectet eum raectatiis apit faceperuntur accusan delisim endigene laut am sit

ABOVE : Tidy jump start from Elouera in the Boats.

CENTRE : MacMasters Beach master the waves.

LEFT : Anglesea eyes the finish.

LEFT : City of Perth tackles the Rescue Tube race.


LEFT : Cooks Hill smiling for the photographer.

RIGHT : Flat out Kurrawa boys after the Board Rescue.

LEFT : Northcliffe girls showing off their FINZ.

ABOVE : Chief photographer shooed out on his birthday.

LEFT : Kurrawa number 1 in the under-17 Ski Relay.

Championship photos available at harvpix.com


WHAT I LOVE ABOUT THE AUSSIES

“To go swimming and to

watch Daddy race.”“The long season coming

to an end and to go out

with a bang”

“The camaraderie and

competitors all together

at the end of the season”

“It’s my first Aussies, I love

the atmosphere, it’s really friendly.

I am not used to seeing so many people

gathered together.”

ANDY AND MONTANA SMITH

CAINE ECKSTEINNORTHCLIFFE SLSC, QLD

KIERAN DAYCRONULLA SLSC, NSW

ISABELLE SHARMANPORT SORELL SLSC, TASMANIA

LEFT : Hard training paid off for the Currumbin Viking under-19 Rescue Tube Rescue team, who are over the moon with their win.

What does The Aussies mean to you?

The Aussies means a great deal to me! It brings the whole nation of clubbies together and

involves all of the states. It was great to see the youth compete on the weekend too who

are then able to stay and watch us compete and it’s just a really special competition.

Do you have a special memory from previous Aussies?

My favourite Aussies memory would have to be the Ironman final a couple of years ago

when Cam Cole won. I was lucky enough to be in that sprint finish. It was probably

the loudest I have ever heard a crowd and it was a massive adrenaline rush. Definitely

something I won’t forget!

You’ve got many events to compete in, what are your hot tips for backing up

between races?

Kingy makes us warm down after every event. We always make sure we go for a swim

whether it’s a heat, a quarter or a semi. I think staying off your legs, resting when you

can and getting back to the tent are three very important things.

MATT BEVILACQUANUTRI GRAIN IRONMAN, WORLD SILVER MEDALLIST & REIGNING QUEENSL AND CHAMPION

MORGANA JONES

THE Currumbin Vikings under-19 Rescue

Tube Rescue Team channeled a year of

disappointment to win Aussies gold.

Prue Davies, Georgia Meredith, Chloe

Sterry and Chandler Searle used last year’s

disappointing campaign at Scarborough to

inspire their Aussies 2015 tilt.

“We have been training since last Aussies

for this. We have been even training on

Sundays, that’s how dedicated we have

been,” Prue said.

“We all put in one hundred percent effort,

it was exactly the outcome we were hoping

for so we are over the moon.”

The training paid off as the Vikings surged

to a comfortable victory.

CURRUMBIN TO THE RESCUE

CLAUDIA FERGUSON

ALL the way from Jan Juc, Victoria, Guy

Mackinder is one of just four A-grade

boaties who is both a competitive rower

and sweep. Mackinder has rowed in

the Open Men’s surfboat division and

is currently sweeping in Jan Juc’s Men’s

Masters and under-23 Women’s Surf

Boat crews.

Before this Aussies, Mackinder had

two silver Aussies medals to his name

as a rower and on Wednesday he added

a third, but this time as a sweep for the

Men’s 120 years Masters Final. The

under-23 Jan Juc Girls, Amelia Elsworth

(stroke), Holly Tubby (2nd Stroke),

Molly Dunstan (bow) and Rachel

Mather (2nd bow) all live on the south

coast of Victoria and train regularly

in flat sea conditions similar to the

conditions at Tugun yesterday.

“We are used to these conditions

although it still comes down to the day,

with the standard of crews up here

anything can happen,” said Mackinder.

“My motto has always been - keep

getting through each round and get

through to the next day - being the

finals on Saturday.”

This is the first time at The Aussies

for some of the under-23 girls first

time at The Aussies, despite this

Mackinder is confident that his team

will do well.

“The Girls won the Victorian State

Titles and a couple of local comps this

year which has given them a boost

along and we’ve come up here with a

bit more confidence,” Mackinder said.

FROM SEAT TO SWEEP


Did you know that at the 1980 Aussies in Maroochydore, the US TV giant, HBO brought 13 camera teams to shoot an episode of their US distributed television show. The result was, ‘USA Box Office Australian Championships 1980’ and Grant Kenny was one of its stars.

DID YOUKNOW

FAR LEFT : (from L to R) Jackson Borg, Ejay Schaffer, Charlie Brooks and Toby Boyce celebrate their National Title.

ABOVE AND LEFT : The boys at various stages throughout their junior lifesaving development.

LEFT : Jared and Rebecca Wiseman with their 9-month-old son Murphy.

MORGANA JONES

TWO good mates from Newport SLSC who

started their Surf Life Saving journey as

under-6 Nippers have celebrated together as

national champions.

Charlie Brooks and Jackson Borg joined

with Ejay Schaffer and Toby Boyce to win

the under-17 Surf Team final, 24 hours after

a video malfunction forced the race to be

re-run.

“It feels pretty awesome. I was never that

good in the young ages but I kept at it and to

win a gold medal feels amazing,” Jackson said.

“I was feeling good but you can never

be sure who won after a team’s race. But I’d

much prefer a team gold to an individual gold.

The feeling is awesome.”

This is a team that goes way back. Charlie,

Jackson and Ejay were teammates in the same

event as under-12’s.

Ejay and Toby were both pool swimmers and

started surf lifesaving to broaden their skills.

“It is a fun sport, good to be outdoors and

everybody is happy,” Ejay said.

And everybody is now a national champion!

JOEL BEVILACQUA

PEOPLE come from far and wide to compete

at the Australian Titles, but few will have

travelled as far as 18-year-old Luca Hillen.

Luca comes from Rheurdt, a small village in

Germany and arrived in Australia at the start of

the New Year to train with Mooloolaba SLSC on

the Sunshine Coast.

He made the move to Mooloolaba after

watching his idols Ali Day and Matt Poole in the

Kellogg’s Nutri-Grain Ironman series, which he

says has a strong following in Germany.

Luca has been involved in Surf Life Saving

since he was 10, competing mainly in pool

rescue which is very popular in European

countries.

Back home, Luca is also the under-19 Beach

Flag Champion but is only contesting water

events at The Aussies 2015. This is quite the

achievement seeing as Luca had never been in

surf before arriving in Australia.

With the closest beach being over four

hours away, Luca and his DLRG Halle-

Saalekreis teammates instead train on a lake

between April and September.

Training in the winter months is virtually

impossible due to icy cold conditions.

Luca is competing alongside his idols for his

adopted club Mooloolaba this week and will

soak up the sun before returning home in July.

FROM LITTLE THINGS BIG THINGS GROW

GERMAN’S EUROVISION FOR THE AUSSIES

I kept at it and to win a gold medal feels amazing Jackson Borg

JOEL BEVILACQUA

JARED and Rebecca Wiseman would have

been forgiven if they had taken a year off

training and competing this year.

The Tasmanian couple only had a baby

nine months ago, but they’re not letting that

stop them.

Their new biggest supporter, baby

Murphy, will be watching his Mum and Dad

compete for the Devonport SLSC this week in

the safe hands of his grandparents.

Incredibly, Rebecca is the reigning

Ironwoman and Board champion of Tasmania,

winning the titles only eight months after

Murphy arrived.

The couple are no strangers to The

Aussies,having won silver in the open

mixed double ski in 2013. They’re hopeful of

contesting the event again, but there is a catch.

Rebecca will have to pass personal

trainer husband Jared’s fitness test first.

She fractured her wrist while playing social

basketball last month.

Jared, who is also a former Tasmanian

Ironman champion, will also be contesting

the single ski.

“We are not as fit as we want to be, we

have done minimal training for obvious

reasons, but we will give it a red hot crack,”

he said.

POWER COUPLE BOUND BY MURPHY’S LAW

ABOVE : Mooloolaba’s German connection Luca Hillen is enjoying his time in the Aussie sunshine.


JOIN THE CONVERSATIONHayden Surfcraft

@HaydenSurfcraft

Congrats #Hayden team riders

@beccreedy & @briannamassie Gold

& Silver respectively Open Ski Relay

#Aussies100

Naomi Flood @naomiflood

What an epic Thursday here

@sls_online #Aussies100 with no

swell but looks to be a cracker day

Mooloolaba Surf Club

@MooloolabaSurf

Gotta love a pun... In todays On Beach

Newspaper #Aussies100... Picken

a winner

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#AUSSIES100 PICS OF THE DAY

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