Ron Lane

For the Noosa Heads Surf Life Saving Club surf sports team, it was indeed a good weekend.

Competing in the skateboarding events at Alexandra Headlands, the Noosa team put in their best performance in years to come home top of the overall standings, making their team the winners of the Queensland Championship. Noosa finished with 96 points with Maroochydore second on 89 and host club Alex third on 77.

Under the guidance of team captain Jack Lewis, the boardies are getting better and better, and it’s nice to see that the team events cover all groups from pliers to seniors and masters.

The advice and help that masters can pass on to young people is indeed worth its weight in gold, especially in times of great surfing competition. Getting advice from those who have been there and done it is often the difference between winning and losing.

In the team, seven members had their first experience and their performance was good. A big plus is the fact that Kirra Molnar, who is the WSL coach/sports coach for the teams world tour and takes sessions for all levels and ages, is a member through the club. If members want to compete in national and/or Australian competitions, or simply improve their surfing skills, just step up and join the ranks.

A strong performance saw Kirra and Jack go home with medals.

Also, it was interesting to watch Marsh’s team of siblings, Taj and Kaya, compete and do well. Recently, we saw these two young athletes win medals in weightlifting at the state level.

The medal count throughout the carnival was exceptional. They made their club proud.

At Maroochydore, the Murphy Builders-sponsored Summer of Surf Carnival, the Noosa team was in for another two-day carnival.

It saw them finish in eighth place overall, in what coach Darren Mercer described as very trying conditions.

In the women’s open ski, Jordie Mercer finished fourth after leading the women’s ski almost to the finish, where she was caught by others on a runner. Electra Outram finished in third place in the open table.

In the blue ribbon events, the Taplin Relays, Noosa had four teams competing, two in the men’s open, one three-man Taplin, one in the three-woman Taplin and one in the mixed six-person open Taplin.

Although he didn’t come home with a medal, it was good to see Noosa compete in these Taplin’s as he covers three disciplines, swimming, wakeboarding and skiing. This shows the depth among the contestants and creates good preparation for future carnivals.

But for this carnival, the best performance came from beach contestant Kai Thompson. In the open beach sprint he finished second and in the open beach flags he finished third. His teammate Liam Fell finished fourth.

Although he’s only 19, Kai constantly mixes him up with the big boys. He recently represented Noosa on the Queensland Super Surf League team at a major carnival in North Bondi with equally outstanding results, definitely presenting himself as a super star in beach events. With Thompson on the beach and Electra Outram on the water performing as they are, things are looking good among our youngsters.

In the boat section, Noosa was once again very busy competing on Saturday at Mooloolaba in blustery conditions for the state selection. Noosa was represented by a crew, the Bandits, but did not reach the final.

On Sunday, Noosa again had four crews competing in Round 2 of the Queensland Cup at Mooloolaba. The race was a real test of physical condition with a course of 750m on the flat. All crews performed well on the day with outstanding performances from the u/19 males, the Roosters, finishing third and the u/19 females, the Tweeties finishing fourth in their final.

The next carnival is a week away at Dickies Beach and two weeks later the Australian Surf Rowers League (ASRL) at Elouera NSW. ASRL’s carnivals are some of the biggest in Australia and the competition is always top notch, so we wish Noosa the best of luck.