Sydney Northern Beaches (SNB) has claimed the NSW Surf Life Saving inter-branch title for the second year after two days of tough competition at Black Head Surf Club.
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With just 13 points separating them from close rivals Sydney Branch, it came down to the final couple of races to determine which team would take home the trophy.
A great win in the final race of the day, the open female taplin relay, sealed the win for SNB.
The Hunter Branch also backed up their third position on the podium for another year after some stellar performances in the water and on the sand to hold off close rivals Central Coast.
Far North Coast Branch finished on top of the Country pointscore, retaining their fifth place in the 11 branch competition.
SNB’s strength shone in the teams events on Sunday, with comprehensive wins in the open board relay, the youth mixed ski relay and the under 14 cameron event. Sydney Branch team was just as committed and came across the line first in the youth female taplin, the female board rescue relay and the under 12 cameron.
Hunter athletes backed up last year’s win in the under 15 cameron relay and also took out the under 13 cameron and the youth male taplin relay.
The host branch put in a solid effort on home turf and other North Coast branches recorded some good results. The Mid North Coast won the youth male surf race and came third in the under 15 male board and the youth male ski race and ski teams.
On the sand, the Mid North Coast picked up first in the open female flags and second in the open female sprint and third in the under 14 female flags.
Hunter athletes were clocking up points across all disciplines but it was the team’s support of each other and their former team-mate Jess Collins which was most visible. The entire team wore swimmers covered in giant sunflowers as a show of support for Jess who is recovering from a neck injury suffered earlier this year.
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.
He said the performances impressed state selectors and the NSW Team will be announced soon.
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.