Age can’t stop this evergreen
NORTH Burleigh’s Neville De Mestre is living proof that age is no barrier.
The 80-year-old has been involved in surf lifesaving for almost seven decades and used every bit of that experience yesterday to claim back-toback gold in the 70-plus years ironman final.
With just two competitors entered, it came down to a race-off between De Mestre and Noosa’s Ross Fisher.
After conceding an early lead to Fisher, De Mestre said he had to work hard across the ski, board, and swim legs to catch up.
“It started off and Ross got a break on me in the ski so I was behind early and had to chase him all the way around,” he said. “He was still ahead of me in the board and I couldn’t catch him.
“But when I started the swim, I saw he was only about 30m in front and I thought my swim could probably make up that distance.
“So I waded out pretty hard, turned that 30m into about 20m, and then I was able to swim past him.”
It capped a big day for De Mestre who competed in six events, winning a second gold in the 70-plus years surf race along with silvers in the rescue tube race and board rescue.
As one of the oldest lifesavers competing, De Mestre lines up against some competitors 10 years his junior.
However, it’s the challenge and camaraderie that brings him back each year.
“I just like going in it and finishing and I don’t care what the younger guys do; if that can beat me, that’s fine,” he said.
“I love the surf, I really enjoy it, and I love meeting up with all my mates here and we’ll do this again in a few weeks for the Australian championships.
“I make sure I do at least half-hour of training every day.”