It was all blue and gold as North Cronulla took a clean sweep of all areas to win the overall Bate Bay Interclub Surf Lifesaving Championships last weekend.
North Cronulla took all before them to win the boat, beach, rescue, swim and craft trophies in another controversial surf lifesaving event where, after a unique club decision, Elouera chose not to compete.
Wanda were the defending champions holding swim, craft and rescue trophies while Cronulla were attempting to defend their stranglehold on the beach trophy.
For North Cronulla to win all five trophies was historic, particularly the beach trophy, which had not been seen in their trophy cabinet for decades.
The Interclub was held late in 2017 after the end of the surf sports season and a disrupted Australian titles due to the crowded surf sports calendar.
With many events at Aussies being cancelled it was a good opportunity to have a final hit out, especially for the boat crews who were unable to compete at the titles.
The Interclub trophy is named after Bill Marshall, the late life member of Cronulla Surf Lifesaving Club who greatly valued the event and acted as the official keeper of the point score for many years.
The Interclub has great historic significance with most events being team based across a combination of age groups from under-15s to Masters for both males and females.
The 12-a-side surf race was again super competitive where 12 swimmers, three of which must be female, race in relay style.
Cronulla took the initial lead before some strong legs by Wanda and North Cronulla brought all swimmers close together again, with North Cronulla finally breaking away towards the end to take out the win.
The event is hosted on a rotation basis between the four Bate Bay Clubs with Elouera scheduled to host the carnival in next year.
