Members of the SLS Sydney Northern Beaches Branch will be heading north over the next few weeks to participate in the 2024 Australian Surf Life Saving Championships, the Aussies. This year they will be held on the Sunshine Coast, Queensland at Alexandra Headland SLSC, Maroochydore SLSC and Mooloolaba SLSC from 13 to 21 April 2024.
Over 6000 competitors across Youth, Open and Masters age categories from 314 surf clubs will take part in 480+ events over the 9 days of the 2024 Aussies.
Surf Life Saving Australia’s Sport Manager Wayne Druery says the event promises to be bigger than 2023, particularly with the inclusion of some new events.
“The Australian Surf Life Saving Championships is the pinnacle for surf sports athletes and something that competitors, club members and families look forward to every year,” Mr. Druery said
“It is a time when the surf lifesaving community comes together to test their surf and rescue ready skills, as well as catch-up with friends from all around the country.
“We are excited to announce that for the first time, we will be offering dedicated Adaptive Surf Sports events for competitors with a disability. These events have been designed following an extensive consultation process over the past two years, and as part of Surf Life Saving Australia’s ongoing commitment to diversity and inclusion.”
Ocean Events including ski, swim, board and ironperson will be held at Maroochydore, surf boat and lifesaving events will be at Alexandra Headland, board riding at Coolum with Mooloolaba hosting the ocean swim and beach events.
Some local surf clubs have been holding fundraisers over the past few weeks to send their surf boat teams north after what has been a GREAT Season for Boat Divisions of surf clubs in the Sydney Northern Beaches Branch.
Local clubs have represented the State at the 2024 SLSA Interstate with 6 out of the 8 coming from here: 3 from Palm Beach SLSC, 1 from Avalon Beach SLSC, 1 from Collaroy SLSC and 1 from South Curl Curl. Crews from Port Kembla and Wanda comprised the rest of Team NSW.
2024 SLS NSW Interstate team
At local Branch carnivals for the 2024 SNB Premiership, at the 2024 Team Navy ASRL Open, at the NSW State Championships, local clubs have accounted for medals across almost every age division.
During this season new crews have been formed in the younger divisions and Bilgola, which had not taken part for a while, has formed a new crew which aims to be ready for the 2024-2025 Season.
The passion for the sport, the sense of camaraderie across ages and genders, the teamwork built through literally pulling together, along with year round fitness, as crews train even in the coldest part of winter, is not all there is to local lore for surf boats.
The first purpose-built surf boat was launched at Manly in March 1907. This had been preceded by locals saving others in older versions of whaler open boats off our shores from Barrenjoey's Broken Bay Customs Station, or rowing to Newcastle to compete in the 1920s. In recent decades local teams from Avalon Beach SLSC, Warriewood and Long Reef surf clubs have taken part in the George Bass Marathon to continue those long rows in a surf boat traditions, a 7 day 190k row embedded in history once again, and named for George Bass who took a similar route, rowing, in 1797. His excursion rowing a boat took 11 weeks and covered 1,900k's of coastline, about the length local surf club rowers go for in the annual 24 hour row during the 'off-season', which again, was initiated right here, and again, is about caring for and supporting others - even those you may never know and never get to speak to.
So how many k's have local surf boat crews rowed before they head north for one final whirl in the 2024 edition of the Aussies?
This Issue, a few glimpses into their Season so far as that draws to a close.
The Surf Boat racing calendar for local clubs commenced with the SLS SNB Premiership carnivals, with the first of these held at Freshwater on November 4 2023, followed by the carnival hosted by Newport SLSC the following weekend. As always, long-term surf boat supporter Michael King, son of Bert, singled everyone but himself out for thanks after yet another great edition of the Newport boats fest:
''A typical challenging Newport shore break to start the day settled down as the tide dropped, the building nor’easter made for hard work heading to sea but an exciting run home. It was a good win for our open women, Thunder, in their first start after having last season off.
It was a big day, and effort from all the rowers setting up and packing up, busy all day. Megan and Mark Hayward, and Bernie Howard played their important roles as officials. Thanks to to Ashley Cardiff and Melinda Akehurst.
Thanks to Lily Tancred and our excellent first aiders, Matt Edwards and the IRB team, for setting the cans, ensuring water safety and bringing all the gear in. Thanks also to Guyren Smith, Liam Taurins and Jess Menzies, who were there all day, ready to help out if required. Another successful day and a great club effort.'' Michael reported
By early December local crews had commenced the SLSA National Selection carnivals among their Branch premiership events.
In January North Steyne hosted Round 3 of the SNB Premiership, followed by Collaroy hosting Round 4 on a Saturday and the popular 'Young Guns' carnival on the Sunday. In early February crews headed south to Lorne in Victoria to take part in one of the favourite events of the annual surf boat calendar; the Team Navy ASRL Open, which ran from February 15-18.
This event includes the Interstate comp on the Friday and the annual Trans-Tasman vent between Australia and New Zealand, which local crew have represented Australia in several times, including Bilgola's Open men, with sweep Don McManus in 2014, Mona Vale SLSC's Open men with sweep Matthew Collins in 2016, Newport's under 23's women, with Mr. King as sweep, in 2017 and Avalon Beach SLSC's under 23 women in 2028 with Nathan Wellings as sweep.
Australian Surf Rowers League Open 2024
Each year the Team Navy ASRL organisers choose a beautiful location, so smaller local economies benefit, and a plac
e that showcases the Australian environment, to run the annual ASRL Open. Boaties clearly like being outdoors, immersed in pristine environments where a whale or penguin may pop up to blink back at them and the locals are as laid back as them.
The 2023 edition was held on the New South Wales South Coast, the 2022 edition was at Cronulla’s Elouera beach, the 2021 event at Long Beach and Mollymook.
Beautiful Lorne in Victoria hosted the 2024 ASRL Open, the premier surf boat event for many across Australia. Lorne is a seaside town on Louttit Bay, situated about the Erskine River and is a popular destination on the Great Ocean Road tourist route, and in the Surf Coast Shire.
Prior to British settlement, Lorne was part of the traditional lands of the Gadubanud or King Parrot people of the Cape Otway coast according to Aboriginal studies author, Ian Clark. The bay was named after Captain Louttit, who sought shelter here in 1841 while supervising the retrieval of cargo from a nearby shipwreck.
Local activities include traditional beach pursuits such as family bathing and surfing, as well as pier fishing for barracuda, whiting, and trevally. Teddy's Lookout lies at the end of George Street on the town's southern outskirts and offers fine views over the town, coastline, and Great Ocean Road. The Great Otway National Park is nearby; the Erskine River, which rises in the park and contains the Erskine Falls, has its mouth at Lorne.
The town's population swells to around 13,000 each New Year's Eve when the Falls Festival takes place. During the first weekend of January over 20,000 spectators visit Lorne when the town hosts the 1.2 km Pier to Pub swim (described in the Guinness Book of Records as "the largest organised ocean swim in the world", currently capped at 4,000 competitors), the 8 km Mountain to Surf run, and the Lorne Surf Boat Race.
From Thursday February 15 2024, through the long weekend of the 2024 ASRL Open (15 to 18 February 2024), and SLSA 2024 Interstate, lifesavers and boaties from all over Australia swelled the population for a late Summer celebration of surf boat racing and what surf lifesaving is all about.
Friday saw the 2024 Surf Life Saving Australia Interstates event with 6 of the 8 crews representing NSW at the this Seasons’ Surf Boat Interstate from the Surf Life Saving Sydney Northern Beaches Branch - 3 from Palm Beach SLSC, the multi-gold winning medals crew, Avalon Beach SLSC Pinkies,
Palm Beach Boat Captain and Sweep Peter Spence said in February:
''Palmy got 3 out of the 8 picked, and the 5 others were from single clubs, so we do have the highest representation there. My under 23 Men, under 19 women and under 19 men have all been picked to represent New South Wales. For 9 of the 12 in those it’s their first State Team so that’s exciting for them.''
The commentators stated, while watching those green and white boats fly, ''There is no bad crew at Palmy - they've got great sweeps and great crews - oh look at this, here's one of their Under 19's on another great runner....''
Team Navy ASRL have published a video of the whole 2024 Open this week, you can have a look at all of the action here: www.youtube.com/c/AustralianSurfRowersLeague
Avalon Beach SLSC's Sweep Nathan Wellings - the run during the SLSA interstate comp. and short course championship
Interstate Comp. Decided Via A Count-Back
For the second year in a row, the QLD Cyclones were crowed the Champions of the SLSA Surf Boat Interstates.
In what was a nail-biting finish to the competition, QLD won on a count back procedure that required calculations back to a single fifth place finish by the U19 Female Crew.
Traditional rivals Team NSW had the same amount of first and second place finishes, and as neither team had a third or a fourth-place result, it was down to their only fifth-place finish to cement the win for the Queenslanders.
NSW Surf Boat Team Manager, Greg Heard believes that a Championships victory is just around the corner after the 2024 Surf Boat Interstate Championships result.
“It was an exceptionally cruel way to come second, after requiring a win in Surfboat Relay to level the pointscore and lapping the field in the process,” Greg said.
The team performed extremely well under pressure in the final relay in Lorne, Victoria, however some bad luck in earlier races ultimately proved the difference as Queensland took first place honours courtesy of the countback system.
“You can always expect some luck to not go your way, that’s surf boat racing, but I was exceptionally proud of the humility and sportsmanship shown by the team once news of the countback sunk in,” Greg added.
After battling for positions in the team over three selection rounds, NSW fielded a strong squad to make the trip south of the Murray River.
“The depth of surf boat talent in NSW is evidenced by the selection of only one returning crew from last year’s team” said Team Captain, Renee Pattison of Port Kembla SLSC.
“You really need to be at the top of your game to earn selection in the team and crews carried their strong performances from the selection events into battle against the other states. I was exceptionally proud of the performance of the team.”
The depth of talent in surf boats was on show again in a couple of weekends to crown the 2024 State Champions.
“We have seen a large increase in the number of crews entered in the State Championships, particularly in the underage categories,” Greg said.
“The Interseries weekend, too, is an exciting addition to the calendar and it’s generating a lot of interest within the surf boat fraternity.
“I sense NSW crews, given the level of racing in the lead up to Aussies, will no doubt be in the medals come late April.”
Whilst it wasn’t to be for NSW in Lorne this year, there’s a sense that NSW is only one stroke away from reclaiming the Surf Boat Interstate title.
Overall Point Score:
- QLD, 111
- NSW, 111
- SA, 85
- VIC, 81
- WA, 79
- TAS, 75
Teams from across Australia then continued with the 2024 edition of the Team Navy ASRL Open.
Local Medallists in 2024 Team Navy ASRL Open
- U19 Girls Palm Beach Puddles Gold
- Reserve Male Avalon Beach Pinkies Gold
- Reserve Make Palm Beach Padlocks Silver
- Reserve Female South Curl Curl Curl Silver
- U19 Boys South Curl Curl Dribblers Bronze
- U23 Male South Curl Curl Underdogs Bronze
- U23 Female Palm Beach Pina Coladas Bronze
- Masters Woman Manly Moonlighters Bronze
All Results:
The organisers at ARL said:
''Congratulations to all our medallists from the Team Navy ASRL Open 2024. To Lorne & the VSRL thank you for hosting such an amazing open. We can’t thank all the volunteers enough for their hard work over the weekend.
To the ASRL committee, officials, photographers, and volunteers, thank you. Thank you for packing up, setting up, officiating, moving equipment and making the weekend possible.
To our sponsors, thank you for your continued support. It is forever appreciated that you continue to support the sport we all love.
To our boaties, thank you. We can’t wait to see some of you at Aussies and hopefully all of you at next years ASRL Open which will be at…''
The Palmy Army had 14 crews at Lorne, a big contingent.
''Most of them have probably never been to Lorne before and they’ll love it down there, it’s a beautiful little town. '' Peter Spence said before they left
As anyone watching the live stream, or listening to the commentators, could hear, Palm Beach SLSC did well.
SNB Premiership results
All crews were back in action on March 2nd a lot closer to home as Newport SLSC hosted the multi-weekend multi-age-division events of the 2024 Sydney Northern Beaches Branch Championships. Sydney Northern Beaches Branch (SNB) is the Administration and Education Centre for the 21 Surf Clubs and their members from Manly to North Palm Beach.
SNB Branch Championship Point Score Results 2024
Open Male
1st South Curl Curl Sneaky Nuts – 62 points
2nd Palm Beach Peter Pans – 60 points
3rd North Curl Curl Gorgonites – 36 points
Open Female
1st Collaroy Giants – 57 points
2nd South Curl Curl Shakers – 56 points
3rd Palm Beach Pirates – 51 points
Reserve Male
1st Avalon Beach Pinkies – 57 points (win on countback)
2nd Palm Beach Padlocks – 57 points
3rd Queenscliff Major A’s – 49 points
Reserve Female
1st Avalon Beach Chaos – 69 points
2nd Palm Beach Pterodactyls – 68 points
3rd Queenscliff Reality Queens – 50 points
U23 Male
1st Palm Beach Phins – 80 points
2nd South Curl Curl Burley – 74 Points
3rd Palm Beach Penitokos – 49 Points
U23 Female
1st Collaroy Crusaders – 64 points
2nd Palm Beach Pretzels – 59 points
3rd Palm Beach Pina Coladas – 44 points (3rd on countback)
U19 Male
1st Palm Beach Popes – 73 points
2nd South Curl Curl Dribblers – 70 points
3rd South Curl Curl Tickles – 47.5 points
U19 Female
1st Palm Beach Puddles – 80 points (win on countback)
2nd Collaroy Canons – 80 points
3rd Avalon Beach HCMF’s 71 points.
2024 NSW Surf life saving surf boat Championships
By late March the Surf Life Saving NSW State Championships were taking place - SLS NSW's Surf Boat Championships report states:
Exciting racing and some challenging conditions gave surfboat crews from across the state the chance to showcase their hard work and amazing skills over three days at the NSW Surf Life Saving Championships, proudly presented by Your local club and hosted by Queenscliff and North Steyne SLSCs.
Competitor numbers increased this year, with almost 250 crews entered across all age divisions, including Masters.
The major uplift in crews taking to the waves at Sydney’s Manly Beach were seen in the Under 19 male and female divisions; great news for the future of this demanding but exhilarating sport.
“It was a great three days of racing, with a testing surf for all crews to manage. The standard of competition continues to increase with extremely close finishes in most divisions,” said referee Greg Heard.
“It was also great to see a number of crews from clubs that had been absent for a few years, make a return and be competitive. Sunday, finals day had some of the best racing and provided a great spectacle for everyone on the beach.”
After a few upsets in the quarter and semi-finals saw some of the race favourites knocked out early, there were some nail-biting finishes when it came down to the final eight races on Sunday.
The first gold medal fell to Queenscliff’s Reserve Male crew (Damien Daley, Louis Alston, Nicholas Hampton, William Thackray and Douglas Bone), followed by the Batemans Bay Banshees in the Reserve Female final and pretty much all of Manly heard them whelp with joy and relief on the shore.
Batemans Bay was certainly flying the flag for the far south coast clubs, with all four crews through to the finals.
The Banshees, swept by Neil Innes and including wife Tracey Innes, Donna Marie Clarke, Megan Douros and Alison Weyman were on a high after also picking up gold in the Masters racing on Friday.
“It’s been a long time coming, well a long time for me,” said Tracey, a veteran of the sport after 26 years.
“It’s great to show that a bit of age doesn’t weary them,” added Neil.
South Curl Curl SLSC showed their dominance in the younger divisions, with wins in the U19 and U23 Male races, both swept by an ecstatic Rob Lowery. The Dribblers crew of Sam Merry, Zane Mcgregor, Cody Kearney and Levi Welsh crossed the line in one of the closest finishes of the day, while the all-local Curly boys, the Underdogs crew of Zac Lowery, Tremayne Chivers, Tasman Farrell and Harrison Andrew were celebrating their time in the sun as U23 champions.
The Palmy Army featured heavily in the finals action as usual, winning two of the eight golds on offer. Stephen Cox swept the U23 Palm Beach Peastmode crew of Emily Wise, Kenya Fahey and Annika Beesley (with Jess Wise filling in for injured stroke Aysha Whyte) to victory, while Peter Spence’s U19 Puddles crew of Chloe Driver, Chloe Brunker, Zoe Elliot and Madeleine Julliard made it look like they have been rowing for years.
“The girls haven’t lost a carnival all season,” said Peter Spence. “The girls have been brilliant, they’re an exceptional crew.”
Palm Beach SLSC Boat Division Captain Peter Spence with U19 Puddles crew of Chloe Driver, Chloe Brunker, Zoe Elliot and Madeleine Julliard . Photo: Malcolm Trees
Damien Daley’s NSW titles tilt ended on the ultimate high with his Queenscliff A Rollers Open Male crew of Connor Hopkins, Chris Cunningham-Reid, James Molloy and Zac Von Appen taking out the last race of the championships.
It was DD’s second gold of the day and a fitting end to the entire 2024 NSW Surf Life Saving Championships, winning for the host club Queenscliff in its 100th anniversary year.
“We did this for a lot of people in our club,” said DD. “We’ve had to juggle a lot of things this year, and on our home beach, it’s unreal.”
Damien Daley - pretty happy about that. Photo: Malcolm Trees
The Manly Moonlighters won Gold in the 160 yrs min Female Surf Boat, congratulations Claire Ward, Amy Lanza (Reserve), Kate Munro, Lara Husselbee and Bastien Wallace. Queenscliff's Forty & Firing took Bronze in 160 yrs min Male Surf Boat; Simon Barnes, Patrick Kelleher, Stuart Menogue, Jonathan O'Loughlin, Nigel Johnston, while North Narrabeen's Dreadnaughts 200 yrs min Female Surf Boat crew; Aleisha Pollicina, Julie Anderson, Kerrie McManus and Lee Chaloner with legendary sweep Don McManus, won Silver.
Another Legendary sweep, Matthew Sheridan, steered the Queenscliff Reality Queens; Kristina Larsen, Kelly Marsh, Nicki Daley and Robyn Moore, to Silver in the180 yrs min Female Surf Boat Final.
The referee thanked all the volunteers involved in making the event such a success.
“Thanks again to all of the officials who worked tirelessly each day to ensure the event ran smoothly for the competitors,” said Greg Heard.
South Curl Curl SLSC - airborne after their Open age division gold. Photo: Malcolm Trees
Palm Beach SLSC grinning winners. Photo: Malcolm Trees
In the Open Male, Queenscliff would come up trumps again with sweep, Damien Daley alongside Connor Hopkins, Christopher Cunningham-Reid, James Molloy, and Zac Von Appen. In the 100th year of the club, the emotions were high as they crossed the line before being awarded gold in the final event of the Championships.
More on the 2024 SLS NSW State Surfboats Titles in a report by Surf Life Saving New South Wales runs HERE
SURF BOAT CHAMPIONSHIP POINT SCORE - TOP 15
1 Palm Beach (Nsw) 40
2. North Cronulla 26
3 South Curl Curl 25
4 Batemans Bay 23
5 Queenscliff 21
6 Bulli 20
7 Avoca Beach 19
8 Wanda 18
9 South Maroubra 16
10 Woolgoolga 13
11 Elouera 10
11 Kempsey Crescent Head 10 - -
12 Collaroy 9-
12 Freshwater 9
13 North Narrabeen 8
13 Port Kembla 8
14 Coogee 7
15 Manly 6
15 Nobbys 6
15 Coffs Harbour 6
2024 NSW Surf Boat State Championships Results
PODIUM RESULTS
OPEN MALE
- Queenscliff A Rollers
- Wanda Weapons
- Port Kembla Pork Knuckles
OPEN FEMALE
- Bulli Gold
- Nth Cronulla Funkys
- Port Kembla Ogs
RESERVE MALE
- Queenscliff Major A’s
- Batemans Bay Team A
- Bulli Gold
RESERVE FEMALE
- Batemans Bay Banshees
- South Curl Curl
- Palm Beach Pterodactyls
U23 MALE
- South Curl Curl Underdogs
- Palm Beach Phins
- Palm Beach Penitokos
U23 FEMALE
- Palm Beach Peastmode
- Avoca Beach Zephyrs
- Collaroy Crusaders
U19 MALE
- Sth Curl Curl Dribblers
- Port Macquarie Orcas
- Palm Bech Popes
U19 FEMALE
- Palm Beach Puddles
- Avoca Beach Yetis
- Coffs Harbour Fruitloops
SURFBOAT RELAY
- Avoca Beach Team A
- Collaroy Red
- Coogee Boat Crews
MASTERS
160 YEARS MALE
- Elouera Great Men
- Sth Maroubra Weapon Vets
- Queenscliff Forty and Firing
160 YEARS FEMALE
- Manly Moonlighters
- Woolgoolga No Points
180 YEARS MALE
- Avoca Beach Blue Pills
- South West Rocks Show Bags
- Wanda Thumpers
180 YEARS FEMALE
- Batemans Bay Banshees
- Queenscliff Reality Queens
- Coogee Spices
200 YEARS MALE
- Kempsey Crescent Head The OCs
- Sth Maroubra Scoobydoos
- Woolgooga Mud Crabs
200 YEARS FEMALE
- Wanda Kessels
- Nth Narrabeen Dreadnaughts
220 YEARS MALE
- South Maroubra Snagglepuss
- Bulli Team A
- Nth Cronulla Vets
240 YEARS MALE
- Freshwater Spring Chickens
- Sth Curl Curl White Bread
- Kempsey Crescent Head The ROCs
260 YEARS MALE
- Nobbys Dicko 260s
- Bulli Gold
- Woolgoolga Long Strokers
Report by Surf Life Saving New South Wales, photos by Malcom Trees - Results: 2024 NSW Surf Life Saving Surfboat Championships
Mona Vale SLSC goes skyward. Photo: MVSLSC
Pittwater Online spoke to PBSLSC's Peter Spence and ABSLSC's Nathan Wellings about their Aussies 2024 campaign and their Season so far. Surf Boat Captains at ABSLSC are Peter Carter and Nathan Wellings
Why is PBSLSC so strong in the Surf Boat divisions?; year in year out there are multiple crews getting great results.
Peter Spence: We’ve got a great culture at Palm Beach SLSC and a great system and we do a hell of a lot of recruiting. I spend hours and hours and make lots of phone calls to track kids down to join us. We have around 30 new recruits this year that are in boats, and had 21 crews form. A couple of those have fallen by the wayside but we still have 18 crews competing which is the largest alongside Currumbin in Queensland in terms of numbers of crews. It’s a lot of work to find the kids, they don’t fall in your lap, so there’s a lot of persistence by myself and others to follow through. We have a great number of Sweeps with Coxy(Stephen Cox) and Pebbles (Ryan Halangahu), Matty Giblin and we’ve got Mark Highfield back. We get on very well and we work collaboratively together. We’re not our own solos, we work as one club, which I think is really important when you are a big club.
How many will go to Aussies?
Peter Spence: We’re looking at, at this stage, 18 crews for Aussies. So another strong representation and contingent going north.
Alex Tyrell, Palm Beach SLSC President: On Sunday 24 March from we christened our new boat, the Mark ‘Hightower’ Highfield. A true gentleman of Palm Beach, and someone who puts seemingly endless time and energy into our Club and developing our rowers - he is so deserving of this honour - and that was a nice way for us to reset after the State Championships and focus in on the Aussies.
Avalon Boat Division 2024 at ASRL Open
Avalon Beach SLSC had 5 crews travel to Lorne in Victoria to compete in the ASRL OPEN over the weekend of February 16, 17 & 18. Led by amazing sweeps Nath Wellings and Pete Carter all of the teams had a fantastic time and managed to come away with some impressive results.
- 1st Avalon Beach Pinkies, Reserve Male: 2nd SLSA Interstates Matthew Mayall, Thomas Curnow, Lachlan Mills, Torin Calf. Nathan Wellings
- 4th Avalon Beach Chaos, Reserve Female: Tara Neasmith, Laura Baierl, Sophie Valentine, Sophie Holmes. Nathan Wellings
- Quarter Finals Avalon Beach HCMF, U19 Female: Ruby Hume, Molly Baczkowski, Alice Binns, Eva Attwood. Pete Carter
- Round Robin Avalon Beach Girtheletes, Reserve Male: Todd Barber, Zach Dale, Blake Taggart, Yannick Raden-Winoto. Pete Carter
- Round Robin Avalon Beach Anchors, Reserve Female: Eliza Cutrie, Charlotte Broderick, Tash Burke, Grace Seaglove. Pete Carter
ABSLSC Boat Division enjoying Lorne
Nathan, congratulations on some great results so far this Season - how has Avalon Beach SLSC's Boat Crew Season been so far from your point of view?
It’s been a really good Season so far for us. These crews that are doing really well in the carnivals. Some of these are 3rd year crews, apart from the Pinkies who have been rowing together for a while now. The Pinkies have a couple of new members and are working well together. From Peter Carter and my point of view everyone is having fun, everyone is training well and we’ve had a really enjoyable Season.
We now have Open Women, Reserve Men, Reserve Women and Under 19 girls crews.
We also have a Masters crew in the 160 who will be rowing in the Aussies this year.
How many Avalon Beach SLSC surf boat crews will there be at the 2024 Australian Championships all up?
We’ll have 6 crews in total – 5 crews in the Open Carnival and our Masters Carnival crew. I’ll take the Open Women, Reserve Men and Reserve Women and Pete will sweep Masters Men, our other Reserve Women and the junior girls.
The Pinkies have had outstanding success over many Seasons now – how have you kept that consistency at such a standard?
I think it’s just the mateship between the boys. They’ve always got good mates in and all work together so well, so t’s really easy for them to work for each other. They’re not struggling to try and push someone along, they help each other out. I think because, with the boat sessions, they’re having lots of fun, there’s this constant chatter- chatter- chatter, and they share jokes. It’s a really good, happy and strong environment to work in.
Avalon Boat Division has turned up to every carnival this season; whether it’s the local Branch ones, the ASRL Open in Victoria and the State Championships. Are you exhausted by the end of the Season?
(laughs) the Carnivals this year have been good – you work a weekend and then get a weekend off. This has been a good lifestyle balance for all the crews this year. So the crews seem to be nice and fresh. Yes, it is an extra long Season as it ends at the end of April, but we did start a little bit later this Season as well as we lost the October carnival.
At the moment everyone is in their stride and looking forward to a great trip up the coast. Lorne was a great trip, everyone loved it; going away together and being down at Lorne, where we stayed was great. Everyone really enjoyed it, it’s a beautiful spot.
ABSLSC Peter Carter
Some of the SNB Surf Boat Crews for the 2023-2024 Season
Palm Beach SLSC Boat Division 2024
- Palm Beach (NSW) Palm Beach Padlocks - Reserve Grade Male Surf Boat
- Palm Beach (NSW) Palm Beach Pelicans - Reserve Grade Male Surf Boat
- Palm Beach (NSW) Palm Beach Peppers - Reserve Grade Male Surf Boat
- Palm Beach (NSW) Palm Beach Philosophers - Reserve Grade Male Surf Boat
- Palm Beach (NSW) Palm Beach Pterodactyls - Reserve Grade Female Surf Boat; Alexandra Stirling, Alexandra Tyrrell, Ingrid Haughton, Stephanie Spence, Stephen Cox
- Palm Beach (NSW) Palm Beach Peter Pans - Open Male Surf Boat: Kurt Spencer, Jack Hook, Robert Giblin, James Alexander Riley, Stephen Cox
- Palm Beach (NSW) Palm Beach Pirates - Open Female Surf Boat: Meg Conlon, Gabriela Chubb, Georgia Wall, Lucy Lake, Stephen Cox
- Palm Beach (NSW) Palm Beach Prickles - Open Female Surf Boat
- Palm Beach (NSW) Palm Beach Padlocks - Reserve Grade Male Surf Boat: Stuart Wickens, Andrew McCarthy, Scott Ellice-Flint, Antony Serventi, Peter Spence
- Palm Beach (NSW) Palm Beach Peastmode - U23 Female Surf Boat: Annika Beesley, Aysha Whyte, Kenya Fahey, Emily Wise, Stephen Cox
- Palm Beach (NSW) Palm Beach Pretzels - U23 Female Surf Boat: Grace Tassell, Lilly Dean, Bridie Cooksey, Ali Waddington, Peter Spence
- Palm Beach (NSW) Palm Beach Phins - U23 Male Surf Boat: Aymeric Moloney, Benjamin Brunker, Thomas Lacey, Thomas Whalan, Peter Spence
- Palm Beach (NSW) Palm Beach Penitokos - U23 Male Surf Boat: Harper Hodkinson, Jack Nugent, Jackson Lind, Jayke Jecks, Stephen Cox
- Palm Beach (NSW) Palm Beach Puddles - U19 Female Surf Boat: Madeleine Julliard, Zoe Elliott, Chloe Driver, Chloe Brunker, Peter Spence
- Palm Beach (NSW) Palm Beach Popes - U19 Male Surf Boat: Lachlan Clayton, Thomas Galligan, Thomas Wait, Corrie Sloan, Peter Spence
Avalon Beach SLSC Boat Division
- Avalon Beach Pinkies, Reserve Male: Matthew Mayall, Thomas Curnow, Lachlan Mills, Torin Calf. Nathan Wellings
- Avalon Beach Chaos, Reserve Female: Tara Neasmith, Laura Baierl, Sophie Valentine, Sophie Holmes. Nathan Wellings
- Avalon Beach HCMF, U19 Female: Ruby Hume, Molly Baczkowski, Alice Binns, Eva Attwood. Pete Carter
- Avalon Beach Girtheletes, Reserve Male: Todd Barber, Zach Dale, Blake Taggart, Yannick Raden-Winoto. Pete Carter
- Avalon Beach Anchors, Reserve Female: Eliza Cutrie, Charlotte Broderick, Tash Burke, Grace Seaglove. Pete Carter
- Avalon Beach Avalon Beach Open Women - Open Female Surf Boat
Newport SLSC Boat Division
- Newport Thunder - Open Female Surf Boat
Mona Vale SLSC Boat Division
- Mona Vale Black - Reserve Grade Male Surf Boat
- Mona Vale Milk - Reserve Grade Male Surf Boat
North Narrabeen SLSC Boat Division 2024
- North Narrabeen North Narrabeen FOGs - 220 yrs min Male Surf Boat
- North Narrabeen Happy Clappers - Reserve Grade Male Surf Boat
- North Narrabeen North Narrabeen Chillis - Reserve Grade Female Surf Boat; Kendall Desbrow, Sarah Bojko, Natasha Grice, Tara Jenkins, Phillip Stivano (sweep)
- North Narrabeen SLSC Dreadnaughts - 200 yrs min Female Surf Boat: Aleisha Pollicina, Julie Anderson, Kerrie McManus, Lee Chaloner, Donald McManus
- North Narrabeen North Narrabeen Golden Girls - Open Female Surf Boat
Collaroy SLSC Boat Division
- Collaroy Red - Reserve Grade Male Surf Boat
- Collaroy Crusaders - U23 Female Surf Boat: Alex Hoatson, Frankie Webster, Lauren Deane, Isabella Dunkin, Gavin Scott
- Collaroy Collaroy Butter Boys - U19 Male Surf Boat: Cass Hammond, Beau Maulguet, Ryan O'Shea, William Keep (Reserve), Lachlan Davis
- Collaroy Collaroy Rowdies - U19 Male Surf Boat: Cameron Haigh, Luca Ferguson, Matthew Hopkins, Toby Johnston, Mark Reece
Long Reef SLSC Boat Division
- Long Reef Long Reef VETS - 260 Years min Male Surf Boat: Peter Kinsey, David Sams, Malcolm MacCormick, Robert Pearson, Bruce Gaal
North Curl Curl SLSC Boat Division
- North Curl Curl Nighthawks - Reserve Grade Male Surf Boat
- North Curl Curl Team A - Open Female Surf Boat
South Curl Curl SLSC Boat Division
- South Curl Curl White Bread - 240 Years min Male Surf Boat: John Mark Campbell, Christopher Flemming, Peter Rogers, Robert Buckingham, Trent Rogers
- South Curl Curl Love Boat - 200 yrs min Male Surf Boat: Jordi Skelton, Andrew Rivett, Wayne Settree, Ian Sheppard, Steve Hall
- South Curl Curl Sneaky Nuts - Open Male Surf Boat: Mark Spiteri, Julian McKay, Tom Opie, Tyler Hyde, Bailey Skelton
- South Curl Curl Underdogs - U23 Male Surf Boat: Zac Lowery, Tremayne Chivers, Tasman Farrell, Harrison Andrew, Rob Lowery
- South Curl Curl Burley - U23 Male Surf Boat: Alan Perry, Angus Campbell, David Campbell, Toby Skelton, Mark Spiteri
- South Curl Curl Dribblers - U19 Male Surf Boat: Levi Welsh, Rob Lowery, Cody Kearney, Zane Mcgregor, Sam Merry
Freshwater SLSC Boat Division
- Freshwater Spring Chickens - 240 Years min Male Surf Boat: Bryan Weir, Mark Williams, Marc Bindner, Carl C. Quitzau, Nathan Perry
- Freshwater Lue - Reserve Grade Male Surf Boat
- Freshwater Jack and the boys - Reserve Grade Male Surf Boat
- Freshwater The freaks - U23 Female Surf Boat: Kelsey Crawford, Elizabeth (Ela) Cornwell, Cheyenne Hayes, Bo Mather, Scott Morrison
- Freshwater The Fender Benders - U19 Female Surf Boat: Elani Plummer, Natalie Perry, Isabella Gallo, Mabel Hancock, Nathan Perry
Queenscliff SLSC Boat Division
- Queenscliff Forty & Firing - 160 yrs min Male Surf Boat: Simon Barnes, Patrick Kelleher, Stuart Menogue, Jonathan O'Loughlin, Nigel Johnston
- Queenscliff Major A's - Reserve Grade Male Surf Boat: Damien Daley, Douglas Bone, Louis Alston, Nicholas Hampton, William Thackray
- Queenscliff Reality Queens - 180 yrs min Female Surf Boat: Kristina Larsen, Kelly Marsh, Nicki Daley, Robyn Moore, Matthew Sheridan
- Queenscliff A Rollers - Open Male Surf Boat: Damien Daley, Connor Hopkins, Christopher Cunningham-Reid, James Molloy, Zac Von Appen
North Steyne Boat Division
- North Steyne Gold - 220 yrs min Male Surf Boat
Manly LSC Boat Division
- Manly LSC Moonlighters - 160 yrs min Female Surf Boat: Claire Ward, Amy Lanza (Reserve), Kate Munro, Lara Husselbee, Bastien Wallace
Good luck to all surf life saving members travelling north this week to take part in the 2024 Australian Surf Life Saving Championships! We at PON hope you all have a safe trip, make some great memories and exceed your last personal bests.
