Elouera Surf Lifesaving Clubs Nippers have made club history by being crowned the 2017/18 NSW Junior Surf Champions for the first time in the club's record books.
After leading from day one, the Elouera SLSC juniors took out the 2018 NSW Age Surf Life Saving Championships at Swansea Belmont, breaking the eight year winning streak of the strong Manly SLSC.
It was a spectacular end to the three-day battle between more than 89 clubs throughout the state, with the southern Sydney club finishing just five points in front of Newport and local Hunter club Cooks Hill two points behind them.
In a great local result for the Sutherland Shire Surf clubs three of the four Bate Bay surf clubs finished in the top 6 places with Cronulla fourth and Wanda sixth.
It was extremely tight at the top of the pointscore with the result coming down to the final few races to decide the outcome. Newport mounted a mighty effort in the water on finals day to skyrocket from eighth place to second, narrowly missing out on the top billing.
At the trophy presentation after competition concluded, the ecstatic Elouera team loudly celebrated their first ever NSW Age title.
Elouera Junior Director Michael Randazzo could not be happier, saying their goal to win the Championships was set last year and the team pulled out all stops to make it happen.
”The standout for me was on Friday afternoon in the 1 km beach run where our girls came first, second, third and fifth which blew us away. We knew they were going to be strong but to get four in the top five was incredible.
“We are going to celebrate this year first and then work out the plan going forward, but no doubt the kids will be up there again next year, Swansea has been a good venue for us so we are looking forward to next year,” Michael Randazzo said.
Manly made its mark felt on day three of the event, with good results in the water, however it was not enough to catch the clubs at the top. Great performances were seen by Connor and Noah Maggs and Josh Gedz. In the end the club tied for fourth place with arch rivals Cronulla.
The State Championships continue on Wednesday 7 March when the Masters competition begins and the Open competition action happens over three days from Friday 9 March.
Proudly supported by Your local club and the Lake Macquarie City Council, the 2018 NSW Surf Life Saving Championships sees almost 7000 competitors from all over the state, joined by more than 500 volunteer officials and thousands of spectators and supporters, go for glory on the shores of Blacksmiths Beach.
Final Pointscore
Elouera SLSC 179
Newport SLSC 174
Cooks Hill SLSC 172
Cronulla SLSC 165
Manly LSC 165
Wanda SLSC 160
North Curl Curl SLSC 159
Coogee SLSC 149
North Bondi SLSC 140
Swansea Belmont SLSC 132
