REMEMBER WHEN

GOLD COAST BULLETIN Thursday May 13, 2004

AUSTRALIAN champion ironwoman Kristy Cameron was one of many top competitors offered big dollars to join a proposed new surf lifesaving club.

The club `Salt’ was to be located at the new $750 million Salt resort project, south of Kingscliff, and was believed to be funded by the Gold Coastbased Ray Group.

Former ironman and Surfers Paradise SLSC coach Dwayne Thuys, who was working as a consultant for the developers, said an application had been submitted to Surf Life Saving New South Wales and the Tweed Shire Council.

He would not comment on whether he had started to headhunt talent but Cameron, her fiance Simon Harris, the Australian beach flags champion, and ironwomen Hayley Bateup and Krystal Smith said they had been approached.

A Salt advertisement published in a surf lifesaving magazine called for ‘former Australian finalists’ - offering them $35,000 to join.

The developers had plans for a 160 sqm single-level building which would include a surf lifesaving equipment store, office, locker room and first-aid room and would stand between the two resort chains, Outrigger and Pepper’s, on Salt’s 73ha site. Salt would have been the first new surf club on the Tweed Coast in more than 20 years and was expected to be completed by November.

Cameron, who left Surfers Paradise to join Northcliffe in 2003, said Mr Thuys had phoned Harris in a bid to lure them south of the border.

Cameron said she would not change clubs.