Armstrong muscles up
BAILEY Armstrong has led a Northcliffe trifecta in the under-19 surf race at the Australian championships.
The Gold Coast teenager finished ahead of clubmates Riley Clout and Toby Wilson to claim gold yesterday.
The trio, along with Mitchell Coombes, had led Northcliffe to gold in the surf teams on Wednesday.
Armstrong will take on fellow teenager star Hayden Cotter, of Maroochydore, in the open surf race tomorrow.
A win would see Armstrong join the likes of Olympian Max Metzker and Daniel McLellan as winners of the junior/open surf race double. THE decision to shift events forward at the Australian surf lifesaving titles looks a good one if the havoc in yesterday’s shore dump is any indication.
Forecast gale force winds, rain and big swells have forced organisers to shift events forward by almost 24 hours at the Australian championships at Scarborough Beach to ensure blue riband finals can be held.
Competitors battled a 1.5m shore dump in yesterday afternoon’s ski and board relay finals, with the waves – many 2m on the face – causing havoc in the elite fields.
Ironwoman stars Harriet Brown and Courtney Hancock were among those to battle the conditions, winning bronze with Northcliffe’s ski relay team.
“It’s so tough out there,” Brown said.
“That shore break is so heavy. I reckon at least 50 per cent of the girls fell off their ski at the end there.
“At least when you fall off there’s not a very long swim in.”
Burleigh’s Allie Britton won silver in the ski relay with Devon Halligan and Tiarne Raymond, managing to hold her nerve and her ski on a massive wave in the final stages.
“I think coming down to Scarborough, we were thinking it was going to be like a lake but when you’re standing under it with your 18-foot ski, it’s nice and big and it adds excitement to the sport,” Britton said.
“It’s what we’re all here for. They seem to keep pulling us away from the waves and no one really seems to like that, so to be in and amongst that is really good.
“This is my first Australian title medal and to do it with the girls from Burleigh Heads Mowbray Park is amazing.”
Both Hancock and Brown moved through the second round of the ironwoman yesterday and would love to claim the title on Saturday.
Hancock is gunning for a third Australian ironwoman title to cap a season in which she won the Coolangatta Gold and a round of the Nutri-Grain series.
“It’s going to be tough, we’re all going to wake up feeling pretty tired and sore (on Friday), but you have to use the energy off that and keep it rolling,” she said.
Big guns Matt Bevilacqua, Ali Day, Matt Poole and Shannon Eckstein all moved through to the ironman semifinals to be held this morning.
The carnival will finish tomorrow to ensure the main events can be finished.