Murfet a work in progress
HIS coach reckons he might be the next James Lacy but Simon Murfet is determined to make a name for himself in surf lifesaving.
The 23-year-old trains alongside Lacy at Mermaid Beach and will handle equipment for him at Round 3 of the Nutri-Grain Ironman Series at Bulli in NSW tomorrow.
The Tasmanian almost joined Lacy in the series this year, completing a near faultless day of racing at the series trial on the Saturday only to lose his grip on one of the six spots on offer come Sunday.
“I raced really well on Saturday and did everything right that night but my mind got to me on the Sunday so I overthought the race and got shown up,” he said.
“I had a few weeks off after the trial because you’re hit with the disappointment of not making it so I stopped and reassessed.”
The performance was enough for Mermaid head coach Mike Janes to draw a line between Murfet and Lacy, a current series star.
“James Lacy was very much the same in that we sat on the sidelines for a few years with him but Simon is very capable,” he said.
“He’s probably one of the quickest board paddlers in Australia so it’s bound to happen soon.”
Murfet’s disappointment at missing out on the series will be eased today when he competes for the South Coast Makos as part of the new Super Surf Teams League, a surf-carnival event which will act as a curtain raiser for the Nutri-Grain series.
“Everyone has put in a lot of work all pre-season so I think it’s going to be really fast racing,” he said.
Beyond competing, Murfet also works as a carer for Mermaid Beach life member Dave Zemek who suffered a spinal injury while in the water last year.
“He’s a life member of the surf club so I go to training in the morning and then head over to hang out with him during the day and tell him what we did at training that morning before heading back to training in the afternoon,” he said.