Boaties travelling good

After a very successful final round of the Navy sponsored NSW Surf Boat Series at Manly beach last weekend (19/20 Jan), our U19 Junior Mens Boat Crew have been selected to represent NSW at the upcoming Australian Surf Rowers League Champion ships at Stockton Beach over the weekend of 8/9/10 February.  The NSW team has been selected based on accumulative point score system involving 3 rounds of the series all of which attract either single, double or triple points.   Our u19’s were winners in round 1 (double points @ Mollymook in November), round 2 (single points @ North Cronulla in December) and their 2^nd place in round 3 (triple points @ Manly) was more than enough to secure their position as the NSW rep crew in their division as well as be crowned series winners.

Crews were selected in all 6 divisions (Open Men and Women, u23 Men and Women, reserve grade and u19).    For the first time, SLSNSW have combined with the Australian Surf Rowers League (ASRL) and decided to separate the boats from the traditional interstate series.  This is a win for surfboats as previously only certain divisions were up for selection under the old format.   The interstate has been integrated into the ASRL Open Championships and will run on Saturday 9^th February.  The u19’s will race against other State rep crews and the interstate relay.  A thoroughly deserved selection and we wish the boys the best of luck.    

Our other crews faired very well in the overall series:  Open Men finished  3^rd (round 1 – semis; round 2 – 1^st; round 3 – 2^nd); U23 Men were 4^th (round 1 – 6^th, round 2 -1^st, round 3 – 3^rd) and U23 Women Gold came 5^th (round 1 – 2^nd, round 2 – 3^rd, round 3 – DNS). 

This Sunday @ North Wollongong our Open Mens crew have been invited to compete in a National team selection event.   A joint initiative between SLSA, SLSNZ and the ASRL has resulted in an annual Test Match Event with full Coat of Arms status to be contested in both Open Men and Open Women year about in both countries.  Starting this season, the selection event will bring together the best crews from across the nation.   Each crew will race off in a round robin format with leading pointscorers (top 4 crews) to row off in a final race for the coveted spot.   The test match will occur in NZ (Bay of Plenty – Waihi Beach) on the weekend of 9^th and 10^th February.   The Open Men are well on the pace and have put themselves into a very competitive position to be one of the top contenders.  Good luck Fellas!”