LSV Youth/Senior champs held in big surf at Lorne

Saturday and Sunday’s event was LSV’s last state championship of the season. Photo: NISH PHOTOGRAPHY

THE best youth and senior athletes from 30 Victorian lifesaving clubs descended on Lorne at the weekend.

This year’s Life Saving Victoria (LSV) Youth/Senior Victorian Lifesaving State Championships were held on Saturday and Sunday in challenging conditions.

Events included beach sprints, beach flags, board and iron events.

“It was a fantastic weekend of racing and the athletes handled the conditions superbly,” LSV general manager of sport and education Kate Simpson said.

“We were disappointed to postpone the surfboats due to conditions, but hope to reschedule as soon as possible.”

Some of the standout performances this weekend included Sophie Thomas from Warrnambool SLSC winning the Open Ironwoman, and Jesse Coulson from Ocean Grove SLSC winning the Open Ironman.

Under 14 Champion Athletes of the event included Jemma Holt from Mordialloc LSC being crowned U14 Female Champion Athlete (Water). “The weekend was a ball of fun!” Jemma said. “So many ups and downs and challenges. Anyone who went out and gave it a go should be really proud of themselves.”

Other U14 Champion Athletes included:

Hudson Pearce, Ocean Grove SLSC, U14 Male Champion Athlete (Water)
Ben Seers, Mentone LSC, U14 Male Champion Athlete (Beach) and
Sienna Stewart, Ocean Grove SLSC, U14 Female Champion Athlete (Beach).

Iestyn Knapp from Ocean Grove SLSC was named the 2021 recipient of the Maurie Rayner Scholarship, which is awarded to outstanding athletes as recognition of their sporting achievements throughout the season. “It was a good weekend – it was a hard, but we got it done,” Iestyn said. “I’ve been training for two years for this State Champs, given last year was cancelled, so I wasn’t going to let pain get in the way. They were awesome conditions: big surf and choppy!”

LSV will publish the full results in coming days, and thanked Lorne SLSC for hosting the event and the many volunteer officials, safety committee, water safety and powercraft that took part.

The Youth/Senior event was the last of LSV’s state championships for the year, following the Juniors, Rescue & Resuscitation (R&R) and Lifesaving Event championships held over the previous weekends.