RIPtIDE NEW MUM RACHEL EASES BACK INTO RACING IT S MORE ABOUT GOING AROUND CANS John Taylor Rachel Crerar is not expecting miracles when she takes to surf in board events at Newport on Saturday for the Bill Buckle Subaru Branch open water championships. Rachel only made her comeback to competition at Manly and the Australia Day Freshwater carnival late last month. On Saturday, she will race the individual board, the board relay with her younger sister Laura and hopefully be in one of the Taplin relay teams. It s great to be back competing, Rachel said. Rachel, now the proud mum of 16-week old son Ryan, says she will also go to State and Aussies. But for me, it s more about going around the cans as opposed to being competitive, she said. I am going to take one race at a time and if I get out of a heat that s kind of my goal for the carnivals. Rachel said she found the going tough on her comeback at the Manly carnival. It was pretty long and flat conditions. I would have preferred a bit more surf to have any chance of being up there, but somehow I jagged a wave and made the final in the individual board, she said. I didn t expect to get out of the heat so it was good to make the final. We came seventh in the board relay which was really good. Rachel again made the final of the individual board at Freshie. The course was shorter and the result was better than expected, she said. Rachel says she just loves being a mother. It s definitely a new experience, she said. It s hard enough to organise yourself, let alone a 16-week old but it is so rewarding. He s pretty happy most of the time. Pictures: Proud mum Rachel with baby son Ryan; and waiting for the start of her comeback race at the Manly carnival. TRIO CELEBRATE Congratulations to Manly pair Naomi Scott and Taylar Puskaric and Newport s Maddie Spencer for qualifying for the Nutri Grain series. They will head to North Cronulla for the finals on February 24-26.
NEWPORT CROWNED SUMMER OF SURF KINGS Newport have brought Queensland giants Northcliffe back to earth and emerged from the Summer of Surf Series as the top club in Australia. The Sydney Northern Beaches club won the point score and earned a state of the art gym fit-out, courtesy of Technogym and worth $60,000. Just to measure how much it meant to Newport and Sydney northern beaches, Northcliffe have won 10 Australian club champion titles. Also on the final day at Surfers Paradise last Saturday, it was great news for Newport with Maddie Spencer qualifying for the Nutri Grain iron woman series to be held at North Cronulla from February 24-26. I am just stoked, Maddie said. I am a year ahead of where I wanted to be. Also in the water, Newport were series winners in both the female board relay and ski relay. Both ski paddlers Mitchell Trim and Hannah Minogue were on the verge of winning the series in their respective events but countbacks came into the final equation after the last round. Trim was just pipped in the run up the beach by Avoca s Lachlan Tame, while Minogue had kayaking commitments. Trim finished level on points with Tame, as did Minogue with Northcliffe s Danielle McKenzie. On the beach, Blake Drysdale was unbeatable in the beach flags, as was Jake Lynch in the beach sprint. Laura Shorter couldn t make the trip north because of illness, which meant Bree Masters caught her on points. Members of the successful Newport club at Surfers Paradise. Pictures: CHRIS BORG
TRIMMY LOSES ON COUNTBACK TO RIO OLYMPIAN Mitchell Trim had a first and two second placings in the Summer of Surf single ski races yet it was heartbreak for the Newport paddler at Surfers Paradise. Trimmy was beaten by Rio Olympian Lachie Tame in a sprint up the beach. Both finished level on points in the series but the Avoca and four-time Australian champion won on a countback. Lachie flew out and I pegged him back but unfortunately he just got me on the line, Trim said. He had the better run to the line (better side of the wave). I was happy with the way I paddled because there were plenty of great paddlers there. Trim said he can t wait to race Olympians Tame and Riley Fitzsimmons at the State titles. I expect both of them to be racing at Blacksmiths, Trim said. Trim didn t finish with any victories at Surfers. He was a member of the Taplin relay team that came second. Ollie (Signorini) swam the house down to put us in a good position and when I jumped on the ski we were fifth but I pulled back to second, Trim said. On the double, he and Luke Jones came second, and in the mixed double with Liv Heaton they also came second. The young 17-yearold (Heaton) really did well, Trim said. Not only did Manly s Naomi Scott win the surf series at Summer of Surf, but she also clinched a place in the coming Nutri Grain iron woman finals at North Cronulla. She will be joined in the elite series from February 24-26 by clubmatetaylar Puskaric. Apart from Scott, Kendrick Louis was a dual winner in Summer of Surf. He won the ironman series, despite finishing second to the great Shannon Eckstein in the last round at Surfers Paradise. Louis also won the run-swim-run series. And the Manly boys Nick Dawe, Sam Speer and Louis also combined to take out the ski relay series. Manly coach Cam Coghlan likes the concept of Summer of Surf but would like the series to be opened up to under 15s. This is the age where they either stay involved or leave and it would be great for the sport to see them exposed to this type of racing, Coghlan said. There should be some great battles in the surf on Saturday between the Manly and Newport competitors at the Branch open water championships at Newport. Former Branch ironman champion Cody Marr Trim said he loved the Summer of Surf concept. It allows us craft specialists to race every few weeks, which is great competition, he said. Ironmen have a professional series and it s MANLY PAIR HIT THE NUTRI GRAIN IRON WOMAN SERIES is apparently returning to racing on Saturday. Cody has done some board sessions with the Newport boys but we re not sure if he s been doing some secret training, one insider said. If all the top ironmen show up for the Branch we ll see Louis, Nathan Smith, Jay Furniss, Dane Farrell and Max Brooks, the defending Branch champion, fight it out. great that the other guys like myself have something to strive for apart from the State and Aussie championships. What a close finish. Picture: CHRIS BORG In the women, we ll have Georgia Miller, Naomi Scott, Taylar Puskaric and Maddie Spencer all four have qualified for the Nutri Grain. It will be a great hit out for them before the big event at North Cronulla. Naomi Scott training at Manly Beach. Picture: KEMBLE COWAN
KIWI RACHAEL PUTS SYDNEY UNDER THE MICROSCOPE After missing out on the New Zealand kayak team for the Rio Olympics, Rachael Dodwell thought she would focus on surf life saving. She had a job offer to come to Sydney with Ocean Paddler at North Manly, so she decided to join Manly LSC. I didn t know what to expect. I thought I d give the job a go and see how the training and racing went, she said. Rachael says she has been paddling kayaks for close to 10 years. She represented New Zealand in the K2 500 at the World Championships in Germany in 2013. Rachael says she is unlikely to continue kayaks and try and make the national team for the Japan Olympics. I have been doing it a long time now, she said. Rachael will be competing for Manly at her first Sydney Northern Beaches Bill Buckle Subaru open water championships at Newport on Saturday. Apart from the single ski, Rachael says she ll also be doing the ski relay, Taplin relay, double and mixed double ski events. Her best performances this season on the single ski have been in the Summer of Surf Series at Newport and at the Manly carnival. She finished second to Aussie champ Newport s Hannah Minogue - at Newport and also second at Manly carnival behind Avoca s Kaitlyn Matuschka. Rachael was also third at the Freshwater carnival. Picture: Rachael Dodwell in action at Manly. PATRIOTS READY TO RUMBLE The Palm Beach Patriots have a score to settle with the Collaroy Gunners at the Bill Buckle Subaru Branch Championships, to be held at Long Reef on Saturday. The Patriots certainly warrant favouritism after storming to Ocean Thunder victory in the fourth round at Dee Why last Saturday. It was their third win in four rounds. They finished on 29 points eight clear of North Cottesloe and Lyle Clark s Currumbin. The Gunners, who are Branch champions, had their best result in the Thunder series, finishing second to the Patriots, with Bilgola third. The Bilgola crew won t be racing at Branch as crew member Hayley Beckerleg is getting married. The Patriots will be missing Lucy Day as she is a bridesmaid at a wedding in New Zealand. We have a very good replacement in Maddie Pitkanen, Lucy said. There are some very good crews at Branch. It will be tough. Picture: The Patriots celebrate after their Ocean Thunder win
WARRINGAH MALL ALEX MOVING AT FAST RATE Newport s Alex Le Fevre was one of the finalists in our Dematic Junior Life Saver of the Year but she s also a very talented surf sports athlete. Alex represented the Sydney Northern Beaches Branch team this season and hopes to do well in individual events at the Westfield Warringah Mall Junior Branch Water Championships at Newport on Sunday. Alex says she will be mainly concentrating on the individual events - swim, board and iron. I don t know if I have any other team members for team events, she said. There s a lot of good girls, so the competition will be pretty strong. Alex says she has improved a lot since she competed at Branch last year. Apart from the board relay, I didn t do all that well, she said. Alex is in her second season at Newport. She was originally at Freshwater but her parents moved to Newport. We thought it was just easier to move clubs, she said. She said she had picked up her swimming and board training since joining Newport. I suppose the board is my strength, mainly because I enjoy it the most and Trent (Herring) and Nick (Carroll) have helped my development so much. I put a lot more effort into it, Alex said. Alex recently competed at Nipper Nats at Manly where she came second in the under 14 female board race. One of her toughest opponents on Sunday will be Manly s Piper Harrison. Piper will probably start favourite for the iron and swim. Several male competitors couldn t attend the Nipper Nats carnival as those who attend St Augustine s College had to go back to school on Friday, January 27 the day of the carnival. Considering the Branch Junior Water and Beach Championships were split this year, the entries for Newport on Sunday are remarkably good. Also the wade races for under 8s were held at Narrabeen Beach last Sunday. There are 566 entries for under 9s to under 14s on Sunday at Newport. Pictures: Alex Lefevre (top) competing at Nipper Nats; board competitors at Nippers Nats (picture: Kemble Cowan); Mona Vale s Luka Monnock finished second in the under 13 board race at the Manly carnival.
MIDGET TEACHES GIRLS ABOUT SURF AND LOVING LIFE These five girls from Whale Beach SLSC reckon they were very lucky to have met the great surfing legend Midget Farrelly. Not only that, Julia Garside, Amy Gojnich, Lucy Stranger, Alice Collins-Gallagher and Maddie Findlay say they were also very fortunate to have learnt to row surfboats because of Midget, who had a passion for sweeping He taught us the love of the ocean and not to be scared of it, Amy said. He explained all the different things the ocean can bring and how at the end of the day the ocean rules and not to forget that. But it was just not the surf he talked about. He taught us things about life in general, about being happy and loving each other. He was a beautiful man. Midget died on August 7 last year when he lost his battle with cancer. The girls call themselves the Flying Fish. This is our first season together as a crew and we ve rowed at most carnivals, Amy said. We ve been lucky that sweeps Dave Maguire and Brett Babicci made sure the crews didn t fall apart after Midget s death. Midget s wife Bev still comes along and watches us. It is so nice. Picture: The Whale Beach girls hope to produce something special at the Branch Championships at Long Reef on Saturday; the late Midget Farrelly with Palm Beach boat sweep Matt Giblin. LONG REEF HOST THE BOATS Long Reef is where all the action is for the Branch surfboat championships on Saturday. A total of 114 crews will be racing in the under 19s, under 23s, reserves, opens and masters divisions. Picture: Sweep Rob Pearson and one of his Long Reef crews
WARRINGAH MALL Bilgola s Zoe Couzens has had some great battles in the beach flags with her clubmate Helena Morely and once again they were the last two to fight it out in the under 13 girls event at the Westfield Warringah Mall Branch beach championships at Narrabeen Beach. This time Zoe was quicker and won the title. We are the best of friends anyway and we go to the same high school, Zoe said. Both girls thought that Avalon s Nina McGuffog would be the big threat. We were a bit worried about her, Zoe said. Nina tripped when it was down to the last three. Zoe (pictured right) completed the double when she won the beach sprint. South Curl Curl s Brooke Bosland (pictured below left) shows off her two gold medals. Brooke was competing at the Branch Championships for the first time and took out the under 10 girls sprint and flags. ZOE TAKES OUT DOUBLE The Manly under 11 girls beach relay team had a little bit of bad luck. The baton slipped out of Georgia Morgan s hand near the finishing line and they went from first to third. The girls, Lexi Black, Ashleigh Windsham, Georgia Morgan and Olivia Weir are pictured below right. Ashleigh said: We are still champions in our own way. It didn t matter to these Avalon girls (bottom right) what colour medal they won. The girls Lucy Johns, Marlena Letts, Evie Waters and Isla Evans came third in the under 10 beach relay. This young Collaroy boy (bottom left) meant business in the wade race.
Photographer BILL SHERIDAN catches this great shot of a wade race at the Branch Junior Championships. Oliver Sanbrook (below right) certainly had his hands full of medals. Needless to say, they were all gold. He starred in the water and on the beach. Now these young girls from North Narrabeen (pictured below left) haven t yet gone close to winning any medals but Tess Milbourne Caruso, Scarlette Colnarick, Kate Milbourne Caruso and Shala La at least enjoyed themselves at the Branch Championships. The North Curl Curl march past team (bottom left) and this little bloke (bottom right) from Bilgola was determined to take part in the march past.
THE WEATHER WAS HOT AND SO WAS DAN If you happened to be on the beach last Saturday, the best place to be was in the water. However, despite the sizzling temperatures, there was no stopping the beach competitors searching for medals or simply having some fun at the Branch junior, open and masters beach events at Narrabeen Beach. With the temperatures so high 37C, the march past was even moved closer to the water as the sand, to say the least, was burning hot. All eyes were on the open competitors in the beach sprint. Collaroy s Dean Scarff was defending the title and also in the field was his clubmate and State champion Michael Kember. But Newport s Dan Grbac (pictured right) caused somewhat of a boilover and pipped Scarff on the line. To get that win was very special. They are two class runners, said the Canadian. It was a Newport treble in the women s sprint final, with Katie Mott, winning from Yvette Avery and Chloe Platt. They are pictured below right. The Collaroy Ladies march past team will have to get in some extra practice before the State tiles. They finished third behind the Collaroy Bears and Freshwater at the Branch. Now these three girls from Newport (bottom right) might have just completed the under 15 2km run but they still had some energy to celebrate. They are Geordie Smith, Sascha Taurins and Jazmine Lerpiniere. Freshwater s Josh Tyrell running in the under 17 sprint.
Some of the masters competitors who enjoyed themselves.