It's just 29 points that separate Sydney and Sydney Northern Beaches heading into the final day of competition of the 2016 Interbranch Championships at The Lakes SLSC.

Rounding out the top five is Central Coast, Hunter and Far North Coast who will be looking to impress in the much anticipated team events tomorrow.



Athletes were surprised with the early 1-2m swell and a heavy shore dump which made it difficult for some to get beyond the break and meant some results were unexpected.



Sydney haven’t won the Interbranch title since 2013, but they’re not getting ahead of themselves as they know the final day always delivers something out of the ordinary.



“It was a really good day of events and the kids performed well and never gave up. It’s probably one of the best teams I’ve been on tour with and the results were just fantastic today,” said Sydney Team Manager, John de Cean.



“We won’t be confident until it’s over tomorrow because anything can happen in surf. We just got to make sure we do everything right tomorrow and that’s what we’ll be talking about with the team tonight.”



The standouts for Sydney were Isabella Walker who finished first in the U15 flags and sprint while Jake Evans finished ahead in the Youth surf and board race.



In the premier male open beach events, drafted Collaroy SLSC athlete Michael Kember who competed for Lower North Coast won a very close sprint, while newly transferred Sydney Northern Beaches athlete Blake Drysdale dominated the flags.



Olivia Heaton and Joel Piper were outstanding for Sydney Northern Beaches winning two individual events each and keeping their hope of three consecutives Interbranch Championships within reach.



Central Coast finished the day strongly with Australian representatives, Tim Schofield and Jemma Smith taking out the Open Iron events. The talented pair also took out the Open ski events while Jemma impressed in the surf race crossing the line first.



Harry Braddish blitzed the Youth field on the beach taking out both the sprint and flags events. While, Kaimani Fittock was strong in the water for Illawarra taking out the U15 Board and Surf races.



Hunter won the U14 male and female Iron events thanks to outstanding efforts from Swansea Belmont pair Saxon Coates and Eliza Johnson.



Competition kicks off at 8am tomorrow with the first events to be the Open Rescue Tube and will conclude with the thrilling Taplin Relays which could decide this year’s Interbranch Champions.



Competition kicks off at 8am tomorrow with the first events to be the Open Rescue Tube and will conclude with the thrilling Taplin Relays which could decide this year’s Interbranch Champions.



Day One Pointscore




  1. Sydney - 978

  2. Sydney Northern Beaches - 947

  3. Central Coast - 846

  4. Hunter - 835

  5. Far North Coast - 752

  6. Illawarra - 708

  7. South Coast - 507

  8. Mid North Coast - 441

  9. North Coast - 420

  10. Far South Coast - 300

  11. Lower North Coast - 162



 



Saturday 10 December 2016