The cream of Illawarra’s surf sport athletes showcased their talent at last weekend’s Interbranch Championships on the state’s Lower North Coast doing enough to finish sixth in the overall standings.
In the first representative event of the season at Black Head Beach Illawarra rallied to finish with 722 points.
Bulli’s Zara Sharman impressed in the Youth water events to take gold in the Ironwoman and 2nd in the Board Race.
It continues a rapid rise through the ranks for the teenager and she was delighted with her performance.
“I’m really stoked with how I performed. We have such a tight-knit group at Bulli with some wonderful coaches like Hannah (Minogue) and Maddie (Freeman) who really push you at training and share their experiences.
“There are a lot of really good young athletes coming through the club and it makes you a better athlete,” Sharman said.
In the U14s Sabina Rogers (Helensburgh-Stanwell Park) performed strongly on the sand but try as she might she was unable to stop Terrigal’s Emelyn Wheeler as the pair went one/two in both the Beach Sprint and Beach Flag events.
NSW Director of Surf Sport, Don van Keimpema, thanked the Black Head SLSC volunteers and work party for hosting a great weekend of racing and congratulated all the athletes, team managers, coaches and officials for their efforts.
“We’re hoping to build this event to be one of the premier events in the state. The team environment we had this weekend was absolutely fantastic,” he said.
With Interbranch behind them for another season, Illawarra based athletes can now focus on the season ahead with a number of local competitions before pulling on club colours at the NSW Championships at Swansea Belmont (Blacksmiths Beach) next March.
Overall Pointscore
- Sydney Northern Beaches 1198
- Sydney 1185
- Hunter 1055
- Central Coast 1000
- Far North Coast 834
- Illawarra 722
- South Coast 675
- Mid North Coast 545
- North Coast 467
- Far South Coast 311
- Lower North Coast 267
Wednesday 12 December 2018