Home of the sport seals deal for Coast

THERE is one poignant reason the 50th anniversary of the Queensland Youth Surf Lifesaving Championships needed to be hosted at Burleigh.

“The Gold Coast is, I think, the home of surf lifesaving,” said Nippers coach Ty Dowker of Burleigh, the iconic headland that hosted the first titles in 1969.

“To have the state titles in Burleigh is going to be amazing and it’s generating a lot of excitement around the club.”

Dowker is hoping that Burleigh’s home beach advantage will help them improve on their 16th place finish from last year’s junior championships.

“We’ll try to use that to our advantage,” he said.

“We’ve had an increase in the quantity and quality of our competitors so we’re looking at improving our position in standings.”

With 67 competitors set to pull on the Burleigh bathers this weekend, Dowker has earmarked under-13 girls Chelsea Wood, Sienna Jones and under-11 competitor Ryder Payne as names to watch but says results are secondary.

“I’m looking for the kids to have the perfect race whether they want to win medals or claim a personal best, I just want them to be the best they can be, race hard and enjoy the experience,” he said.

Dowker also predicts an improvement in Burleigh’s senior division which is set to compete at the championships.

“We’ve had a big growth this year in surf sports,” he said.

“Phil Clayton (former ironman champion) has come on board as head coach and he’s been tremendous, and you can already see the improvement.”