THE Wauchope Bonny Hills Surf Lifesaving Club (WBHSLSC) competed at the NSW Country Championships at Mollymook on the South Coast recently with distinction.
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While the team was smaller than usual, all 10 surf athletes made the finals.
The medal haul of 1 gold, 5 silver and 4 bronze medals was a sensational achievement given the exceptionally high standard of competition.
The NSW Country Championships is the largest annual surf event in the regional areas of NSW with around 2000 competitors racing in age divisions from under 8's to over 60 years.
The event has been conducted annually since the 1960's and has been the launching pad for many of Australia's most revered surf stars, Olympic medallists and iron men.
This year's event was held in perfect conditions.
Each of the three days saw sparkling sunshine, a small but sporting surf and water that was blue and warm, all in all the photos look like shots from a travel brochure.
The Wauchope Bonny Hills surf club team consisted of Austin Bales (Silver u/8 beach flags and 4th in sprint), Ava Sinclair (silver u/11 beach flags), Mia Bales (bronze u/12 sprint and beach flags), Sarah Stewart (silver u/12 ironwoman, 4th u/12 board), Keely Sinclair (silver u/14 beach flags and 4th sprint), Hugh Stewart (silver u/14 ironman), Taylor Sargeant (5th u/15 surf race), Isaac Sanderson (gold u/15 2km run), Julie Olzomer (bronze 50+ beach flags and 2km run 4thsingle ski) and Elaine Walker (4th 40+ single ski).
Like any surf event there were some pleasant surprises and some disappointments - but hey, that's surf!
It was particularly pleasing to see Isaac Sanderson win his first NSW Country title as well as Hugh Stewart and Austin Bales winning their first ever NSW Country medals.
Congratulations to all of the competitors and thanks to the officials and water safety.
The local surf club is looking forward to some significant events over the next few months.
The boat crews travelled to the Manly and Freshwater carnivals over the weekend, and all of the competitors are training hard for the Mid North Coast Branch Championships.
The club is defending the overall point score trophy - the NSW surf championships and of course the granddaddy of all surf events, will be the 99th staging of the Aussies at Kirra in Queensland where over 7000 competitors will do battle in April.
