Manly LSC News – March 2017

FROM OUR PRESIDENT

STATE CHAMPIONS AGAIN

The tail end of the patrol season is upon us with just over a month to go, however on the competition side, it is peaking. I am so delighted to say that Manly LSC is both Branch and State champions for the second year in a row.
The state championships were disrupted by dangerous surf conditions in the nippers,masters and open championships. Despite not being able to compete in certain age categories we still dominated, particularly in the nippers.
Their were many personal bests achieved by a number of individuals and teams! To all of you congratulations! The open girls for years have been standouts as a group but this year it was the open men’s turn. This is the best men’s performance at state since the 90’s. They dominated in the team events, winning the surf teams, board relay, 2nd in the ski relay and sensationally winning the Taplin. Nathan Smith won the individual swim, Stuart McLachlan the board and Kendrick Louis the Iron man. Importantly, this year their is plenty of depth with plenty of sky blue caps winning valuable team and individual points.
Manly LSC is a leader in surf lifesaving practice, a community role model and continues with its long history as best competitors. Being at the ‘pointy end’ we sometimes need to be reminded that we must mirror the SLSA code of conduct in particular-
– We need to Respect the rights, dignity and worth of others
– Be fair, considerate and honest in all dealings with others
– Be professional in, and accept responsibility for, your actions
– Make a commitment to provide quality service.
– Be aware of, and maintain upcoming adhesion to, SLSA standards, rules, regulations and policies
– Operate within the rules of surf lifesaving including national and international guidelines that govern SLSA

 Good luck at Aussies and see you on the beach

Chris bell
President

KEEPING THE BEACHES SAFE – CLUB CAPTAINS REPORT

We are nearing the end of our Patrol season and our presentation is fast approaching.

Save the date: Friday 28th April!

Who is it for & why do we have one? It’s for you & because we’ve had an awesome year! We celebrate our victories in & out of the competition arena. We say thanks for all your hard work & welcome our newest members.

Get your Patrol members together and make a night of it.
One member I’m sure will be there is James Wacher. He is our Patrol member of the month. He does so much for our club, IRB, Surfcom operator, First Aid, Patrol Comp (mentor & and competitor) and as a Bronze Trainer. He is also studying his HSC.
I know, so much talent in one so young!

Who will he treat to $100 worth of food at Zeus Balgowlah??

Bec Crawford
MLSC Club Captain

Monday 12th June, Queens Birthday long weekend will see the running of the iconic Manly Soft Sand Classic event on the golden sands of Manly beach. This year competitors will have the choice to test their stamina with the 21 km Soft Sand Classic, stretch themselves with the 9km solo or create a team of three to take on the 9km race. Schools will be entering in primary and secondary teams for the 9km Soft Sand Cup and we also are introducing a Corporate Teams Challenge with teams made up of three runners covering three kilometres each. Competitors can feel the burn with the 1.6km magic mile or check their fitness with the barefoot beep test on the sand. It’s going to be fun as this community run caters for all levels of ability.

We have great prizes up for grabs including running shoes from Pace Athletic, 2XU sports clothing and Manly club merchandise. This year will see the introduction of a special prize, handmade custom commemorative mug for age group winners in the 21 and 9km solo races.

All proceeds of the event are going to Manly Life Saving Club surf education programs to help continue to keep our beautiful beach safe. The Manly Soft Sand Classic promises to be a wonderful day for the Manly community and a highlight to the annual running sports calendar. It offers a great opportunity to welcome people into our Life Saving Club and get showcase our beautiful beach and get people into beach running.

MANLY LSC – NIPPERS

The NSW State Age Champs may have taken place under stormy skies and bouts of heavy rain, but the mood was far from dark in six Manly age group tents scattered across Blacksmiths Beach at the 2017 NSW Surf Life Saving Age Championships at Swansea Belmont last weekend.
Manly Nippers celebrated their eighth straight championship win ahead of Sydney Branch rivals Wanda and Elouera, finishing the meet with 23 gold medals and a record 349 points.
It was the accumulation of a year of hard training and skills development for our nippers and it was particularly pleasing to see the strong performance of the U9s who had their first experience of a State Championships – they handled it brilliantly!

There were many outstanding individual and team success stories and too many to mention them all here, but a few special ones did stand out. Manly twins Mitch and Jake Morris (U12s) finished with 9 gold medals between them. The pair went one-two in the U12 Surf, Board and Iron races before joining forces in the team events. Others to shine include Kimberley Doyle who completed the trifecta and picked up three individual gold medals (U12 Surf, Board, and Iron) and Nina van der Reyden who also powered home to take podium gold three times in the U11 Beach Sprint, Flags, and Relay events. The U14 boys sprint team retained their gold position for the third year in a row (Aiden Helu, Oskar Enasio, Cooper Robinson and Miles Weir). Tyler Krenkels rounded off a very successful nipper career with a sweet gold medal win in the U14 surf swim. The March Past team won gold after years of chipping away at the strength of Collaroy – testament to the weeks of training and dedication that this team and their coaches have shown. Our older nippers will go on to get their first taste of national level racing at next month’s Australian Championships on the Gold Coast and the team look forward to welcoming the new U9s next season to state competition.

One of the best memories will be a show a solid team spirit when over 220 Manly nippers and families dined together on the Saturday night prior to finals day. The whole of Swansea Belmont area must have been able to hear the team chant go up and the nippers roaring M.A.N.L.Y at the tops of their voices! This show of team spirit is the kind of thing that shapes a child and creates lifetime memories – once the memories of hiding from the rain under umbrellas on the beach have faded!
Nippers, Age Managers and parents should be very proud of the way the team approached the Age Championships. It was certainly played in the right spirit and we can look back with pride on what has been a fantastic surf sport season.

Our U6 and U7 nippers finish the season on Sunday 19th March with a presentation of their medals at the Clubhouse. Hopefully lifelong friendships have been made on the beach this year while the nippers had heaps of fun and started to learn a healthy respect for the ocean.
Again, I would like to sincerely thank our sponsors for making this year possible. Piping Hot in particular at the younger end – providing new equipment for surf play. Harris Farm for enabling us to run our weekly bbq, 7News who helped facilitate the Manly Nipper Nats, Crust Pizza Balgowlah, Bennett Surfboards, Airbnb and Black Swan international who have been a key supporter over a number of years. Welcome also to Myer, a new sponsor this year for Nippers. You play a huge role in enabling us to educate nippers, providing essential gear and allowing our attendance at carnivals.
I am looking forward to welcoming a new group of future lifesavers in U6s to the Manly family next season and to also seeing our older nippers return for more education and fun on the beach.
Go Manly!

Andrean Duffy
Chair, Manly Nippers