Sweat on forecast
SOARING temperatures, including a projected top of 39C on Monday, could force the suspension of matches at Geelong’s premier tennis tournament.
Regulations call for play to be postponed if the mercury hits 38, which may hinder the Victorian Grasscourt Championships, starting at Geelong Lawn Tennis Club today.
The four-day tournament will be well into the main draw by Monday when the heat arrives.
Tournament director Ross Davis, who was forced to call off a day at the Ballarat Open earlier this month, said: “We keep a close eye on that and keep the players informed about what the temperature is.”
WITH summer in full swing and thousands of people hitting the water it’s a good time to discuss sun protection for surfers.
There’s plenty of hazards surfers face in the water — fin cuts, collisions and sharks, to name a few — but I’d say sun exposure is the biggest.
In the ocean there’s nowhere to hide from the sun.
Fortunately our industry has taken up the challenge and there’s now a lot of products on the market that can help surfers stay protected.
Wetsuits normally aren’t worn for sun protection, but they are probably the best item to protect our skin.
It’s rare in Victoria to surf without a wetsuit and for that I believe we are lucky as it forces us to protect a lot of the body from harmful rays.
During summer you can get down to a simple wetsuit vest and boardshorts, but I believe it’s smarter to stay fully covered with a full-fit wetsuit — but go for the ultra-thin rubber.
Nothing better for close to 90 per cent of body sun protection and these super-thin wetsuits are also extremely comfortable and flexible.
What these wetsuits won’t protect is the head but all the leading brands now sell great water hats, which should also be a standard item of surfwear.
While that should give a lot of protection, it’s still essential to use high-level sunscreens on the face, neck and hands — the feet are underwater most of the time, so maybe they are safe.
Hot and sunny conditions as we head into the weekend, with a reasonable swell coming our way. Today should see a moderate swell and light variable winds with fun waves on the reefs right along the coast. Tomorrow looks hot and clean with fun small waves everywhere, with left-over small waves for Sunday.
SOARING temperatures could intervene on the tennis in Geelong, with a projected top of 39C on Monday potentially cancelling play.
Regulations call for tennis to be postponed if the temperature reaches 38C, which may hinder the Victorian Grasscourt Championships, starting at Geelong Lawn Tennis Club today.
The four-day tournament will be well into the main draw by Monday when the heat arrives.
As the heat rises, tournament director Ross Davis will be glued to his laptop to monitor conditions.
Davis was forced to call off a day at the Ballarat Open earlier this month as temperatures broke the 38C threshold.
“We keep a close eye on that and keep the players informed about what the temperature is,” he said.
“We had a tournament in Ballarat last week and we ended up calling it off one day because we knew it wasn’t going to get cooler until nighttime.
“(The forecast) isn’t looking quite as bad as it was earlier.
“Monday is headed towards 39C, but that’s probably not until the later part of the day, so we might be lucky there to get most of the matches done by the time the heat arrives.
“We might be in for a bit of luck, so we’ll cross our fingers.”
Leopold-raised Olivia Symons will be the highest ranked local hope, after being handed the second seed for the women’s singles.
The 17-year-old is ranked at 49 by Tennis Australia and, together with women’s singles top seed Alana Parnaby, took out the doubles title in Ballarat.
Australian No.17 Harry Bourchier is the top-ranked male in the event, which he won last year.
Bourchier will face off with his tournament doubles partner Brandon Daly-Walkin, who is the second seed in the singles draw.
The qualification draw starts today, with the tournament set to finish on Tuesday.
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