SIMPSON SETS SIGHTS ON the world’’s best

For 16-year-old Jolyon Simpson, a gruelling training regime and the pressure of competing against men more than double his age, is something the Ocean Grove Surf Life Saving champion revels in.

This year Jolyon hopes to continue mixing it with the world’s best, having travelled to Hawaii last year, to compete in the Molokai 2 Oahu Paddleboard World Championships.

After qualifying for the Under 29 event Jolyon was the youngest solo entrant (at only 15) over the 53km event that saw him finish in eighth position.

“I enjoy racing with the top guys – the older guys – and being young. A lot of my friends are the same,” he said.

“I like the challenge, there’s a bigger field in Victoria. There’s not a massive number of people in Under 17 it’s always the same group. In the Under 17s, I’d be right up there (with the best) but in the open it’s more of a challenge.”

Jolyon has been involved in Surf Life Saving (SLS) since he was five years old and trying his hand at a variety of sports from cricket, football, gymnastics and basketball only solidified a passion for SLS.

“Surf Life Saving is the most challenging one for me and it took me up until a couple of years ago to get to the top. I love working hard,” he said.

“During school times, I do two hours training in the morning and an hour and a half straight after school. In summer, it can be up to three sessions a day and four and a half hours.”

Jolyon said he trains with a squad from the Ocean Grove Surf Life Saving Club (OGSLSC) under the tutelage of head coach Sonia Kinsey for swim, board and iron and Bill Strachan for ski.

“We train in the pool before school four times a week and do swim sets. Then we’ll go to Landy Field and do 40 minutes on the track. At night, we’ll vary between board, ski and iron training.

“Both Billy and Sonia are volunteers so they’re doing the same number of hours as us for nothing, it’s all voluntary.”

The coaches work alongside and the athlete’s dedication has paid off with the OGSLSC pooling heavily in medal tallies across state and national titles.

“I’ve made the Australian finals in team events, the Under 15 Australia board relay final in 2017, the Under 17 and Under 19 Australian ski relay finals last year and a number of state medals,” he said.

“I’m not far off reaching the top, it’s just about how I race on the day now and controlling nerves. We’re all there with fitness, speed and skill now it’s just about performing on the day.

“I use to love the pressure, in team events I happily take it all on and would never do anything to let the boys down, but in individual events I didn’t have the same mindset.”

Jolyon said he’s recently began taking a more relaxed approach the morning of events, going for a surf to warm up as opposed to following a rigid program.

“I’m just trying to relax more and have more confidence in my ability individually, I’ve been performing so much better than I have in the past thanks to that shift.”

Recess and the lunch bell signals freedom for most high school students but for Jolyon and his training mates, it’s an opportunity to get ahead of their school work.

“It’s been hard over the years but I’ve come to learn how to balance school and our training schedule. We go to the library now on break to get homework done because we know we’re going straight to the beach after school,” he said.

“We don’t mind missing out, it’s just about getting the work done as quickly as possible so we can train.”

Having trained alongside Ironman and surf lifesaving idols Shannon Eckstein and Matt Bevilacqua, Jolyon said he takes pride when they said they saw themselves in him.

“They took really similar paths when they were my age and the level they’re competing at, they’re still doing the same amount of training as I am now.

“They were putting in the hard work and they’ve come down and seen us and said we’re on the right track.

We just have to keep doing what we’re doing.”

With ambitions to move up north, Jolyon said he wants to have another crack at the paddle board championships in Hawaii this year and eventually the Ironman series.

“I want to become one of the world’s best, but at this stage it’s really important to me just to be a good role model for the younger kids coming up through the club. It’s something I strive to be.”