Nipper Update - February 2021

At the recent Sydney Branch Carnival the Junior Lifesaver of the Year finalists gathered at Maroubra Surf lifesaving Club. There were 12 finalists from within the 15 clubs of Sydney Branch and representing South Maroubra was Noah Teitler. A big congratulations to Noah for taking out the title of Junior Lifesaver of the Year for Sydney Branch. Your passion and enthusiasm to lifesaving is clearly evident. Well done.

Last weekend South Maroubra Nippers sent a competitive touring team of 103 nippers aged Under 9 to Under 14 to the NSW State Age Championships in Swansea-Belmont. Due to COVID-19, the normally very large Championships was divided into four smaller carnivals across two beaches (Blacksmiths Beach and Redhead Beach), and the age groups were split up with Under 9/10/11’s competing over the first two days, and Under 12/13/14’s competing over the following two days.

South Maroubra Nippers competed in individual events including the surf swim, board, iron person, wade, beach sprint, flags, and 1km/2km runs as well as in team events including the surf swim team, board relay, board rescue, Cameron relay (swim/run/board/run), beach sprint relay, and Rescue and Resuscitation (R&R) events.

Competitors are awarded points for race placings 1st to 6th which contribute to the overall point score to award the NSW State Champion Junior Surf Club. I am very pleased to report that South Maroubra came 6th from 129 surf clubs in the state, equalling our result from last season. Our team brought home 8 gold medals, 6 silver medals, 9 bronze medals, and 9 placings of 4th, 5th and 6th. Thirty-nine nippers came home with a State medal. In addition, in the Inclusive events (competitors with a disability) we were represented by Under 12 nipper Daniel who bought home a medal in every event he competed in. Nippers placing 1st to 6th are listed below, and these young champions should be congratulated and celebrated.

This year was a logistical beast and I would like to say a special thank you to all involved. The Coaches, Age Managers, Water Safety, Officials, Fundraising team, parents and nippers who all pulled together as a team to make these a special 4 days. A special thanks to Renae McNamara who throughout the season has worked tirelessly organising the competition team, to get the information out to all parties and makes sure everything runs smoothly.

Go South Maroubra

Greg Turton
Director of Youth