Marshall leads local Masters in Aussies gold rush

ANGLESEA Surf Life Saving Club’s (SLSC’s) Naantali Marshall blitzed the Master division at this year’s Australian Surf Life Saving Championships with four gold medals.

Marshall was unstoppable in the water, winning gold in the 45-49 years women’s water events – the ironwoman, board, surf and ski races.

The Masters Championships allow Australia’s most experienced lifesavers to put on a masterclass of skills in the challenging conditions at Scarborough, Western Australia, and attract competitors from 314 lifesaving clubs across Australia aged 30 to 75-plus.

Lorne SLSC’s Tristan Read represented his club at The Aussies and claimed two gold medals, winning the 45-49 years men’s surf race securing gold in the 2km ocean swim, while Jan Juc SLSC’s Daryl Hauenstein won gold in the 65-69 years men’s 1km run.

Victoria’s oldest representative at the championships was 75-year-old Fairhaven SLS Club’s Malcolm Freake, who continued his decades’ long legacy at The Aussies winning gold in the 1km beach run and silver in both the beach sprint and flags events.

Samuel Hume of Anglesea SLSC won silver in the 45-49 years men’s 2km run, Melissa Fitzgerald and Amenah McDonald from Ocean Grove SLSC won silver in the 45-49 years women’s double ski and Benjamin Lund of Jan Juc SLSC claimed bronze in the 35-39 years men’s 2km swim.

Other local masters to make Australia’s top 10 in their respective events were:

Michael Hegarty, Jan Juc SLSC – 40-44 years ironman men’s board race and ski race

Torquay SLSC – 150 years men’s Taplin relay and board relay (Grant Matthews, David Strahan, Simon Strahan)

Lorne SLSC “Lorne Again” – 160 years women’s surf boat crew (Georgina Box, Tamara Brawn, Shea Grant, Geoffrey Matthews, Paula Matthews)

Ivor Morgan, Anglesea SLSC – 45-49 years men’s board race, ski race and ironman Ingilby Dickson, Anglesea SLSC – 65-69 years men’s surf race

Benjamin Lund, Jan Juc SLSC – 35-39 years ironman, board race and surf race Samuel Hume, Anglesea SLSC – 45-49 years men’s surf race

Amenah McDonald, Ocean Grove SLSC – 45-49 years women’s board race Daryl Hauenstein, Jan Juc SLSC – 65-69 years men’s beach flags

Nicole Matthews, Torquay SLSC – 50-54 years women’s board race

The Aussies continued with the open competition from March 29 to April 2.