Thirroul Seagulls and Helensburgh-Stanwell Park Sea Wolves have shone at the 2023 Sharkskin NSW IRB Championships, held at Ocean Beach in Umina on July 7-9.
The Seagulls won gold in the U23 Rescue division and the Sea Wolves won the Rookie Rescue and Rookie Mass Rescue divisions.
The two golds for Helensburgh-Stanwell Park Sea Wolves capped off a dogged IRB season for the team, who were determined to better last year’s silver in the Rookie Rescue race.
“The whole team, from start to finish, were just on fire,” Sea Wolves powercraft captain Anthony Ashley said. “I think they kind of set themselves up with a really good start at the start of the day – set the tent up, got there early, everyone had a really good night's sleep – and then from that moment on, every race, they were just nailing it.
“They actually sat down with me at the beginning of the season and said that's what their goal was, that they wanted to bring home gold for that particular event… and, credit to them, they never faulted the whole season.
“They really had a bee in their bonnet, they wanted it and they got it, so it was great.”
Both Illawarra teams had a chance to refine their skills ahead of the championships during the five rounds of the 2023 NSW IRB Premiership Series, which began in late April.
For the Sea Wolves – who have competed as rookies for the past two series, needing drivers to attain two years’ experience before advancing – next year will bring an even greater challenge.
“Next year is a big season. We've already started planning because besides the regular season and States and Aussies, we've got the World Championships in Australia next year,” Anthony said.
“We’re going to be competing in that on the Gold Coast… we really had a three-year plan leading up to that and we're hoping to really come into those strides at that point, because that's huge. It’s basically the Olympics of surf lifesaving.
“For us, next year is also really about getting a girls’ team involved. We've got two young girls that have been coming through nippers over the last couple of seasons as our patients… and we're always looking for new members to come and join us and bring home more medals next season.”
Thirroul Seagulls’ championship gold was the top gong in a haul that also included six silver and bronze medals won across several U35s, U23s and Open rescue and relay races. The team scored fourth overall at the event.
“It was a great result for us because, by and large, they're a pretty young team,” Thirroul Surf Life Saving Club president John Dryden said.
“They've been training really hard over quite a few months now in the lead-up to the Sharkskin [Premiership] Series, and they went pretty well in that as well, and it was capped off by the state title.
“As a club, we've got a quite a tradition of being really competitive in IRB racing… and there's a bit of a family connection running through that. Samara Turner, who was the patient in that Under-23s team, her father and her mother were both very good IRB competitors – and, in fact, her father's a coach of the team – and then there's another couple that also won medals, Bryce and Jack Creek, another father-son combination. So it's a real family affair at the core of it.”
The Thirroul Seagulls’ season doesn’t end here, as they’ll be going on to compete again this week, from July 20-23, at the Australian IRB Championships at Kingscliff.
John has high hopes for the whole team, including young members Jayden Keys, Jack Lynch and Samara Turner, who were selected to represent NSW in the IRB Development Team at the Interstate Championships, which are on at the same time.
“[It’s] obviously a lot tougher, a lot of very strong clubs from all around the country – particularly the Queensland sides [who] tend to be very strong. So if we can get a medal or two, we'd be very happy,” John said.
“There's really good camaraderie within the team, and I think we're looking to build that team over the coming seasons.
“Three of our young people actually are in what they call the interstate team, they're in the Development [Team]… that’s a really good thing for the club and for those members. They will race against other development teams from other states, so it gives them a bit more experience in interstate competition.”
You can learn more about the Sharkskin Australian IRB Championships here. Follow the Surf Life Saving Australia Facebook page to view live updates on Thirroul Seagulls' races at the upcoming championship event.