Competitors weathered tough conditions at Umina-Ocean Beach for finals day of the Open NSW Surf Life Saving Championship, the closing stage of the 2015 state title.
Brad McGloghry
Gusty, cold 25 plus knot southerly winds and rain squalls blew straight onto the competition areas turning umbrellas inside out and sending athletes scurrying under tents when the skies opened.It also blew up the surf, which suited the stronger athletes.
Unfazed by the angry conditions, Harry Armstrong from Avoca Beach SLSC out paddled a seriously hot fi eld in the U15 board event. “It was very tough out there, the conditions were quite choppy,” Harry said.
“I made the final last year in the 14s but didn’t manage to medal so I’m very, very pleased with this result. “We’ve got a group of very good board riders in the club at the moment.”
Avoca Beach teammate Brad McCloghry is the new Ironman U19 state champion. Summing up his win he said: “I’m very happy to get my first state Ironman title and to do it in my home branch with a lot of support is very pleasing.”
“We’ve got a lot of great younger kids coming through at Avoca at the moment which is really benefiting us all at training. “We’re like one big happy family. “It was a very tough race out there with the wind making it difficult to get full power in the strokes.
“I was getting it in the eyes a bit during the last leg, but it was adrenalin keeping me going,” McCloghry said.
In the water, Avoca’s Kaitlyn Matuschka kept drawing on the last of her energy reserves to record her best Carnival results ever; three gold and one silver medal.
“Hopefully the adrenaline of winning hangs in the system long enough for the iron event,” she said after her Open ski success.
It was a win for the home branch on Saturday in the U19s female beach sprint when Avoca Beach’s Bianca Mould held off Kaitlin Mott from Helensburgh- Stanwell Park and Renee Stortenbeker from Elouera.
“It was really fun to run out there today as it was almost perfect conditions,” Mould said. “It wasn’t too hot and being slightly overcast actually helped a bit as it kept conditions quite cool during the race. “It is special winning a state title in my home branch, and the plan is to keep training every day and get ready for Aussies.”
Avoca Beach was the highest ranked Central Coast club on the final overall pointscore, finishing fifth.
Kaitlyn Matuschka
Media release,
15 Mar 2015
Liam Howitt, SLSNSW