Glittering performance avenges 2020 defeat
THERE is a little bit more gold on the Gold Coast after the city’s open men’s water polo team claimed top prize at the Queensland Country championships in Toowoomba.
Gold Coast beat the Sunshine Coast 14-9 in an excellent performance despite Sunshine Coast finishing with a flurry of goals.
The win reversed last year’s result when the Sunshine Coast won the men’s final.
With goalkeeper Flynn O’Neill outstanding at one end of the pool, Gold Coast was able to create enough scoring opportunities across the game.
Gold Coast captain Luke Ingwersen said he was most impressed with the team’s evolving cohesion across the competition.
“We played together and we wanted to play for each other,’’ he said. “It is good from the first game to the last game that the team evolved so well.’’
He said the Sunshine Coast-Gold Coast rivalry was a healthy one and it was good for the tournament to have a different winner in 2021.
“If you win it every year it takes the edges off the competition, and the same if you lose.
“We won it this year and I am sure they will try to do something to get it off us next year.’’
A pile-driving third-quarter effort, which saw successive goals to focal point Jasa Kadivec, Jared Devries and Ingwersen, lifted Gold Coast to high ground, leading 11-5 entering the final quarter.
The side then scored the first and second goals of the last quarter before Sunshine Coast then finished with a flurry of goals.
NORTHCLIFFE’S Lucy Derbyshire has taken a step closer to securing a spot in the 2021-22 Nutri-Grain IronWoman Series by winning Round 1 of the Next-Gen Series.
Swansea Belmont’s Bella Williams led for most of the under-19 women’s Endurosurf format but it was ultimately Derbyshire who took top spot.
The pair were neck-andneck for the second lap of the M-shape course before Derbyshire claimed victory. “I know there are two more rounds but it feels great to take out the first round,” Derbyshire said.
“Bella and I have always gone for it and she’s always up there.”
Originally from Glenelg in South Australia, Derbyshire moved to the Gold Coast two years ago to pursue better surf, more sun and ultimately a career in the Nutri-Grain IronWoman Series.
“Living in the bay at Glenelg there’s not much surf at all, so coming up here to Northcliffe and big waves was definitely different,” she said.
“It would be amazing if I could eventually get in the series and it’s definitely a dream of mine.”
The inaugural round of the Next-Gen Series attracted 47 of the country’s most talented rising iron athletes.
The under-19 men competed in two short iron races with the best 10 from each heading through to a 40-minute Mshape Endurosurf final.
The under-19 women competed in a straight-out final.
The men’s race was won by Wanda’s Nathan Jay, who led for most of the race and was poised to battle Swansea Belmont’s Kye Taylor in a sprint finish before Taylor tripped on his ski paddle, cementing Jay’s win.
“It was hard competition and hard racing but it was amazing to take it out,” Jay said.
“I didn’t quite realise that he (Kye) tripped but when I didn’t see him in my peripheral vision I was pretty happy.”
Swansea Belmont-based Taylor is a cousin of Bella Williams, who finished second the women’s final.
Williams gushing about the new initiative and the chance to claim her dream of being a Nutri-Grain Ironwoman.
“The first iron, swim, board, ski, really hurt and after that I had to regather myself and see if anything had changed, any new rips or anything but it was really tough,” Williams said.
Round 2 and 3 of the NutriGrain Next-Gen Series will be curtain-raisers to the NutriGrain IronMan and IronWoman Series at Kingscliff on February 27-28.