The Nationals at Scarborough
Hi all, who said that Scarborough has no surf!! On arrival the members of the Board and Ski team managed to unload the trailers and were happy to find all our equipment in one piece. Thanks to all involved in the designing and construction of these racks, it ensured our equipment arrived safe and sound and on time. Well done and thanks to Tim Stanley, Al McCombe, Neil and Pete VD, I believe this was a great investment for the club.
On the beautiful 37 degree day, the board and ski team members were ready to blow out the cobwebs from their long flight over. A one hour training session involved the senior members sharing their Scarborough experiences and was great to experience the interesting ‘shore break’ that this beach offers.
Conditions wear near perfect with no Fremantle Doctor in sight, and the water was flat as a tack! The only issue was practising starts and finishes with the huge back shoots running back off the beach and into the ocean. Something that has to be experienced for yourself, almost like catching a wave off the beach then contending with the oncoming beach break.
The board and ski area had a couple of days to fine tune their skills for the masters competition, but we weren’t prepared for what the heaven were going to throw at us. We were welcomed to a 4 to 5 foot shore break as well as wind and a massive back shoot off the beach that would put you in the crunch zone. So it was important to do warm ups to get a feel of what we were in for and this had great results.
Sonia Grundy once again showed why we call her the big wave specialist taking out the hotly contested board race for her age group and paddled home hard in the ski race to finish second on her new charger, which handled the conditions perfectly.
Karl Russell, Tim Stanley, Matt Web and I also had some encouraging results. We hope these results can keep the team focused for the following Summer season with the Aussies returning to Kurrawa. There has been ongoing talk of training sessions over Winter including Melbourne, Geelong and the Lorne area. Karl Russell has kindly agreed to share his vast surf ski/kayak experience with any younger member wishing to join the Board and Ski team. Please contact me if interested.
The Boat Area was exciting to watch. Condition saw at least 2 people taken away on spinal boards. Congratulations to the master’s crew for their flying visit in for a bronze medal in their age group. The trip was well worth the travel and shows that age is no barrier... Well done.
Tim Stanley stood out in his single ski campaign after his disappointment at the Vic titles making it through to 3 rounds of the open ski. Tim has been consistent with his training in the off season and this showed with his performances at Scarborough. Well done again to Sonia Grundy who came 9th in her semi-final and missed a place in the women’s ski final by one place. Age was no barrier for Sonia, she was one of the last Vic girls left in the women’s ski semis. Mat Web and I teamed up in the double ski and showed how you can survive on a ski without breaking it.
The boat area was very unlucky over the comps as Mugo will report on later in the Mower. The open crews were both eliminated earlier than expected in fickle conditions. The reserve crew had fantastic results. As the new coach it was fantastic that the whole team were able to get together for a team dinner organised by our new Team Manager Bec Read.
This was a great opportunity for us to share our experiences and hopefully organise some combined training sessions over the Winter. Please keep an eye out on the website for further details of these sessions. I have placed a few programs in the coach’s corner on the Lorne surf club website for people to refer to as a guide. I am more than happy to discuss other programs for groups and individuals of all levels.
I am looking forward to doing another coaching course at LSV in April. This covers all disciplines in surf life saving as well as pool events and IRB. It is now a requirement from LSV to hold this qualification as a coach or Senior / Junior co-ordinator.
I would like to thank the club and all its members for giving the Lorne team the opportunity to compete at the Australian Titles. Without the help and support from you we would not be able to represent the club at the highest level.
Created: 3/Apr/2009 - 05:07 AM Last updated: 3/Apr/2009 - 06:47 AM