STORY OF VIKING RISE
Currumbin Vikings delivered the goods in 2019 with another typically blockbuster year to mark their centenary anniversary. Eliza Reilly looks back at the rise of a surf lifesaving powerhouse.
THE history books tend to agree that Vikings roamed the Baltic Sea for nearly 300 years in the 10th century.
Yet a modern rewriting reads that Vikings of the Currumbin kind have sailed into their 100th year.
Perched on the iconic Elephant Rock, the Currumbin Surf Life Saving Club stands 100 years on like a colossus, often pounded by storm surf, but never flinching to the challenges it has overcome.
“I often use the phrase that this club has survived storm and tempest on this rock here for 100 years,” member and Order of Australia recipient Ian Hanson said of the club established in 1919.
“It’s unique to have a surf club on this rock, and to survive is extraordinary.”
BUILDING A DYNASTY
MUCH like its members who have themselves laid the physical foundations for the club that stands today, it’s Currumbin’s staff, athletes and supporters who have transformed the Vikings from a club struggling to stay afloat to one that exudes culture, class and performance.
It’s the club’s reputation that attracted Hanson, a former Freshwater member, when he made the move from Sydney 20 years ago.
“You move up here and you think, ‘where are you going to go?’,” he said.
“I spoke to the guy who was the chief lifeguard at the time, George Mullins, who was an ex-Freshwater boy where I was from and I said ‘George, I need a surf club, where am I going to go, I’ve had offers for the kids to go and paddle with Burleigh, North Burleigh’.
“He said ‘mate, there’s only one family club on the Coast, you’ve got to go to Currumbin’.
“Now 20 years later and we’re still here.”
THE BEGINNING
THE Currumbin of 2019 is a far cry from the club of 1919, which formed in the face of tragedy.
Local resident Fielding Chippendale arrived at the iconic shoreline to see his daughter Eva face down in the swell, prompting him to recommend the formation of a surf club. The Vikings were born but it soon looked like they may plunge into the seas surrounding them after financial troubles forced the Vikings swimming club from Ipswich to merge with Currumbin to become the club it’s known as today.
During the war years clubbie Dick Lucas used to drive members down from Ipswich to the Coast. The end of World War II saw Currumbin reign in its first era of greats.
In 1977 the Vikings claimed their first Aussies pointscore title with a famous win at Bancoora Beach, Victoria.
Fielding only 15 competitors, Currumbin also became the first Gold Coast club to take out the Aussies as every
Viking chipped in to achieve success.
In that famous Taplin team were legendary Vikings Norm Rabjohns, Olympic swimmer and 15000m world record holder at the time Steve Holland and 10-time Aussies gold medallist Dick Cahill who still lives in a house overlooking Elephant Rock today.
“Everywhere you turn, there’s someone who’s made an impact,” Hanson said. “The names that pop up and the role they play is amazing.”
FACING CHALLENGES
FROM 1977, the Vikings took out two more pointscore titles in 1998 and 1999 before slumping in the early 2000s.
“By the 2000s, I think in 2005 we were back to 121st on that Australian pointscore rankings,” said current Vikings CEO Michael Sullivan.
“About seven years ago, I couldn’t remember the last time we’d won an open gold medal but between 2012 and now we’ve won a medal in every event except four.
“Although it was a successful period then, we did have to rebuild it and fight back those 10 years to get it to where it is now.”
Sullivan and his committee of Vikings have been one of the crucial components behind Currumbin’s rise back to prominence.
Since joining the Vikings in 2006, Sullivan has spent the past years progressing through the club structure before seeing the club into its new century.
Last year under his guidance, the club delivered its best year in the surf since its back-to-back Aussies wins in the 1990s.
“Since those years when we won the Aussies, the past season is definitely the most successful we’ve had,” he said.
“When you look back at all of that and our success across all events, we had a pretty successful year and one of our best across the 100 years which is something worth celebrating and building on.”
THE FUTURE
THE Vikings currently boast a squad of five Nutri-Grain series athletes in addition to international sporting stars like Australian Rugby Sevens player Lily Dick and athlete Ellie Beer.
The Gold Coast bought into their success and the Viking population grew by 10 per cent, including a 5 per cent rise in Nippers numbers on the back of their 2018 state titles win.
“We’ve got a lot of confidence heading into the future that our programs and our pathways are working and we’ve got the right people involved,” Sullivan said.
“At the end of the day, being a Viking brings with it a great sense of pride and we’ve used it as a bit of a catch cry.
“We have an identity and culture which has persevered so I think that has helped us retain our current members and also attract news ones.”