Pittwater Life April 2017 Issue

Sporting Life
Sporting Life
Newport gains
points decision
for fourth year
Just six years ago, Newport
SLSC weren’t even in the
top 20 when the points
were tallied at the State Open
Championships.
The juniors struggled as well
that year at Kingscliff on the
far north coast and the Brooks’
brothers, Max and Charlie,
were among the club’s best.
Charlie won the under-13
ironman and Max came third
on the ski in his first year of
under-17s. But how things have
changed at Newport.
Max is a Nutri Grain ironman
competitor these days but the
introduction of the Newport
Surf Racing Academy has seen
a dramatic improvement in not
only the development of the athletes
now at the club but also in
results at State and Aussies.
Having won the Summer
of Surf Series, which included
a host of top Queensland
clubs, for the first time this season,
Newport were hot favourites
to take out the point score at
the NSW Open Championships at
Blacksmiths Beach (March 10-12).
The club did so for the fourth
successive year, finishing on
425 points, from Manly 343
and Wanda 202.
This year it was the Newport
female competitors who really
stole the show. The club won
30 gold medals – 17 of those
went to female athletes. The
open female athletes, spearheaded
by golden girl Georgia
Miller, won 12 gold.
Miller was certainly the super
star at the championships,
winning the open surf race,
board race and ironwoman.
What made her performance all
the more remarkable was that
she was coming back from an
appendix operation.
“It’s crazy how quickly you
lose it (fitness) and how hard it
is to get back but I can’t complain
about my weekend,” she
said after the championships.
Miller also won gold in the
surf teams with Maddie Spencer,
Tayla Tullett and Phoebe Cater.
She combined with Hannah
Minogue and Jaime Roberts to
win the ski relay and with Spencer
and young gun Olivia Heaton
to take out the board relay.
RELIEF: Georgia Miller raises a smile after winning a close ironwoman at
the State Championships at Blacksmiths Beach in March.
In her own under-17 age
group, Heaton won the surf
and ski races, while Minogue
won four gold, also winning the
single ski and mixed double ski
with Mitchell Trim.
The Newport open men
found themselves outgunned
by the Manly athletes but the
Newport under-19 boys salvaged
pride.
Charlie Brooks and Jackson
Borg, who only started to get
serious about surf sports a few
years ago, shone. They each
won four gold medals, with
Borg showing his versatility
by first winning the under 19
Champion Lifesaver.
His victory in the iron
(photo left) over his clubmate
Brooks was most impressive
and rewarding for the affable
teenager.
Borg’s race plan was simple.
He said: “I just wanted to belt
the swim and see what happened…
I really didn’t expect to
come out first because Charlie
had been swimming way better
than me and so had some of
the other guys. I had to just
hold them off on the board.”
Brooks took out the ski and
board finals, the board relay
with Borg and Isaac Smith and
ski relay with Borg and Keelan
Smith. They were double ski
partners and finished second.
The disappointment for
Newport A was only finishing
third in the Taplin relay (behind
Manly and Redhead). The
Brooks brothers paddled their
hearts out to get the team back
in contention but Manly were
just too strong on the day.
Newport will be hoping they
can hang onto the Louw sisters,
Maddie and Jodie, and young
Joel Piper. They are definitely
the stars of the future.
Apart from Newport and
Manly, gold medals were certainly
hard to come by for other
Sydney Northern Beaches clubs.
In the boat area, Newport
Sharknado won the under-19
female final, with Palm Beach
Peaches third.
The Avalon Beach Pinkies took
silver in the under-23 male final
and the Avalon Beach women
(Avocados) took bronze.
The Bilgola Gold women’s
reserve crew came third, as did
the Mona Vale Pandas in the
male reserves. – John Taylor
34 APRIL 2017
Celebrating 25 Years