Coast has 6 appeal
THE Gold Coast will play a massive part in determining the country’s best surf lifesavers this season, hosting two rounds of the elite Ocean6 series with Coolangatta joining Surfers Paradise on the event calendar.
The Ocean6 event made its debut last summer, the event combining the NutriGrain Ironman and Ironwoman series with the format formerly known as Summer of Surf into an event for the country’s best elite and emerging surf sports athletes.
And the event immediately remedied the Gold Coast’s recent absence from the elite iron series, holding a round at Surfers Paradise in February.
But with Victoria off the calendar this season, a Currumbin stop has also been added to the series in a move Ocean6 general manager Trent Goulding said recognised the Gold Coast’s position as a “home” of surf lifesaving.
“There’s always a fair bit of pressure to come to the Gold coast because it’s a bit of a home of surf lifesaving,” Goulding said.
“Currumbin always turn up in big numbers and support what we do. It’s kind of cool to have one on the south end and one up in Surfers Paradise as well.”
The shift to a Saturday finals series for each round is likely to allow more Nippers to see their heroes in action too, something Goulding said was crucial.
“One of the things we try to do with our series is try to inspire Nippers to stay in the sport and grow into those senior ranks,” he said.
“So when you’ve got significant numbers in Sydney’s northern beaches, the (Sydney) city beaches and the Gold Coast in particular, we want to put ourselves in front of one of our core audiences, which is our Nippers and make that connection.
“One of the things we’re also trying to improve on is the experience for spectators. To have the events on the Saturday afternoon, bring in some food vendors, some live music and put the showcase of the Nutri-Grain ironman front and centre for the Gold Coast, I’m pretty excited about those couple of rounds actually.”
Kurrawa golden couple Matt Bevilacqua and Brielle Cooper will attempt to defend their Nutri-Grain titles when the series kicks off at Queenscliff on October 19-20.