The Aussies are back for another year, with over 8,000 athletes from around Australia (and New Zealand) flocking to the Sunshine Coast, to compete in the core disciplines of Surf Lifesaving and Surf Sport.
From the 13th – to the 21st of April the best of the best across all age groups – Youth, Opens, and Masters will battle it out for titles of Australian Champion, with the event split as:
13th-14th: Youth Events
15th-16th: Masters Events
17th- 21st: Open Events
At the time of writing this, our youth have just completed their events for another year, and over the past 2 days, they have displayed exemplary behaviors of elite sportsmanship, highlighted by some outstanding results.
Oliver Browne & Trent Yates both demonstrated their undisputed strength in their respective events going back to back (U13 in 2023, U14 in 2024) in Championship titles.
Trent took out the wins in the U14 Beach Sprint and U14 Beach Flags, while also being part of the Gold medal-winning U13/U14 Beach Relay teams. A competitor for Sorrento in 2023, welcoming Trent this season to Trigg Island has been a joy, slotting in effortlessly as part of the team and witnessing him go from strength to strength in his disciplines to take out the titles for another year, demonstrates his dedication to his craft.
Browne proved his dominance as Australia’s top open-water swimmer winning the Surf race for a second consecutive year, as well as, the 2km Swim event. Throughout the year, Olly has been working hard with coaches to add more strings to his bow, which proved fruitful as he found himself in the final for the U14 Board Race. Teammate Billy Hawkes has been hot on the heels of Browne, with the pair often sharing the podium this Aussies. Both of these young guns have this season worked closely together to keep pushing each other, getting the most out of their training, and amid competition have celebrated each other’s successes, showing comradery and sportsmanship.
Not to be outdone by the boys, our young females also put on some impressive displays of performance, putting their hard work from throughout the season into practice and making multiple appearances in the finals.
Macy Boisvert placed 4th in the U15 Board Race, narrowly missing out on a podium finish, however showing strong improvements from previous years, and no doubt has a spark to clinch a podium finish next year. Alisha Beeney made it through to the final round of the Ironwoman event with a tenacious spirit, placing 17th out of a total of 105 athletes who entered.
Giaan Versace held it up for the beachies, making it through to the finals of the beach flags, before bowing out in 8th position.
As a club, we are proud of all our athletes who competed in the Youth events over the weekend. Our Under 13s welcomed the challenge of a national event, whilst our more senior youth competitors rallied and demonstrated key behaviors of leadership and sportsmanship.
To say the future is bright amongst our club is an understatement, as we look forward to the growth of these young members.
A special Thank you to our Youth Director Mike Boisvert, who this season took on the new role within our club to ensure there were no holes in the progression of these athletes and members. We’d also like to thank Jen Taylor, for her ongoing support and work within the youth space, consistently showing up for these young athletes and leading them.
Finally to all the parents, supporters, and volunteers, a massive thank you for the time you have given to our club and these young members to ensure they are supported and pushed to be their best, bring on 2025!
Results:
Surf Race:
Under 14 – 1st Place – Male – Oliver Browne
Under 14 – 3rd Place – Male – Billy Hawkes
Board Race:
Under 14 – 14th Place – Male – Oliver Browne
Under 15 – 4th Place – Female – Macy Boisvert
Beach Flags:
Under 15 – 8th Place – Female – Giaan Versace
Under 13 – 18th Place – Female – India Murphy
Under 14 – 1st Place – Male – Trent Yates
Beach Sprint:
Under 14 – 1st Place – Male – Trent Yates
Beach Relay:
Under 14 & 15 – 5th Place – Female – Macy Boisvert, Josie Burton, Milla Tan & Giaan Versace
Under 14 & 15 – 8th Place – Mixed – Macy Boisvert, Hudson Hort, Giaan Versace & Trent Yates
Under 13 & 14 – 1st Place – Male – Billy Hawkes, Hudson Hort, Chris Jiang & Trent Yates
Cameron Relay:
Under 14 & 15 – 5th Place – Female – Alisha Beeney, Macy Boisvert, Josie Burton & Giaan Versace
Under 13 & 14 – 3rd Place – Male – Oliver Browne, Billy Hawkes, Hudson Hort & Trent Yates
Board Relay:
Under 13 & 14 – 6th Place – Male – Oliver Browne, Billy Hawkes & Bo Watters
Under 14 & 15 – 15th Place – Female – Alisha Beeney, Macy Boisvert & Macey Johannsson
2x1km Beach Relay:
Under 13 & 14 – 5th Place – Female – Milla Tan & Mia Watters
Under 13 & 14 – 9th Place – Female – Josie Burton & India Murphy
Ironperson:
Under 14 – 5th Place – Male – Billy Hawkes
Under 14 – 6th Place – Male – Oliver Browne
Under 15 – 17th Place – Female – Alisha Beeney
2km Beach Run:
Under 13 – 4th Place – Female – Mia Watters
Under 13 – 6th Place – Female – India Murphy
Under 14 – 5th Place – Female – Milla Tan
Under 14 – 7th Place – Male – Bo Watters
2km Ocean Swim:
Under 14 – 1st Place – Male – Oliver Browne
Under 14 – 2nd Place – Male – Billy Hawkes
Under 14 – 23rd Place – Male – Isaac May
Under 13 – 13th Place – Female – Ellie Neervoort
