Sisters are back for more
SOME may have been there for longer but the Jones sisters are the evergreens of Greenmount Beach.
Every year without fail, since they were Nippers, Mariah Jones, 24, and Leah Jones, 21, have represented Tweed Heads and Coolangatta Surf Life Saving Club at the Queensland championships.
Ahead of this weekend’s titles on the Sunshine Coast, the sisters said it was powerful to look back on their consistency and dedication to their club for more than a decade.
“I hadn’t reflected on how we’d done all the state champs up until now so it’s pretty exciting,” said Mariah, who won the Queensland open women’s belt and surf race titles in 2016.
“To think that we’re at our young age but we’ve been doing it for so long is quite crazy. We love being part of that atmosphere and love the sport.”
Leah said it was the friendships they had made that kept them coming back to compete.
“We’ve met so many people along the way and I think that’s why we stay in it,” she said.
“We have so many friends from other clubs that we’ve met through competitive lifesaving.”
With the sisters’ state championships involvement stretching 17 years between them, they say they could do it forever.
“It’s one of those sports that I don’t think you can get over,” Mariah said.
Mariah (Queensland) and Leah (Victoria) will also be involved in the national pool rescue championships in August.