Young surf lifesavers shine

Young surf life savers from across the Central Coast braved a four-foot swell at Avoca Beach for the annual Branch Championships on the weekend of February 15-16.

It was touch and go whether the carnival would go ahead due to the predicted swell, with a possible contingency plan involving moving the competition to Terrigal.

But with a last-minute change in the wind, the carnival was able to go ahead with solid, but relatively clean, swell.

Avoca brought home the trophy with a final point score of 1062 points, but it was the efforts of the kids that was most impressive, with many competitors completing their first ever ‘official’ ironperson.

Layla McCarthy of Wamberal, competing in the Under 11s and having already finished her individual swim, decided that she was ready to undertake the premier event.

In the qualifying event, with the top eight finishers going through to compete in the event at the State Championships in March, Layla finished in eighth place in her age group and qualified for her first ever ironman at state level.

Lilly Parker of Avoca also competed in their first official female ironperson.

Lilly came out of the swim leg of the iron in third place, navigating the waves with some impressive body surfing to put herself in a competitive position.

She ultimately finished in fifth place, and qualified for her first state ironperson, along with her teammates Ava Knight, who finished in seventh place, and Alex Hall and Liv Manser, who finished in first and second place respectively, with Alex overtaking Liv in an exciting sprint up the beach, after Liv led the board leg around the cans.

It’s the first time Avoca has ever broken a thousand points and was their second win in as many weeks, following success at the Opens Branch Championships held at Ocean Beach two weekends ago.

The conditions couldn’t have been more different, with not a wave to be seen as Central Coast competitors in the Under 15s age groups and above showed up with boards and skis in tow, ready to challenge the reigning champions, Terrigal, for the title.

Avoca led the charge in the Under 17s and Opens Women’s events, with a strong performance from Avoca’s women particularly in the ski and swim events.

In the Under 19s, however, it was all Terrigal, with Elizabeth Shearer leading the swim and board events.

With Terrigal dominating the Men’s Opens in numbers, it was up to Avoca’s Under 17s men to step up and race in the Under 19s and Opens divisions.

Bodi Bone raced around the cans no fewer than 15 times, and his teammates Zac McKay, Brody Frew and Julian Glew were all instrumental in stepping up to help Avoca’s only Under 19s competitor, Jerome Drobot, in as many team events as they could manage.

Amanda Bone