Greats get a taste of titles fever

SURF Life Saving Queensland’s Youth State Championships are one week away and to celebrate, some of the sport’s finest athletes have gone headto-head with the next generation of stars.

Three-time Australian and four-time Nutri-Grain Ironwoman Series champion Karla Gilbert along with four-time Australian ironman champion Ky Hurst came out of retirement to jump back on the board.

Northcliffe’s Matt Bevilacqua, fresh from finishing fourth in the Nutri-Grain Ironman Series, also raced against the North Kirra Nippers.

Gilbert said she could not wait for youth championships to return next week after nearly two years of no Queensland state titles for the juniors.

More than 1600 Nippers will descend on North Kirra for three action-packed days of events from next Friday.

“I can’t wait to see the exciting spectator and competitor experiences at the … championships where my daughters will be competing,” Gilbert said.

“It’s been more than 700 days since they’ve been able to compete at state titles so I know they’ll all be busting to get out there.”

ESSENDON has thrown twotime ACL victim Kaine Baldwin a football lifeline, signing the athletic South Australian forward as a rookie. Baldwin, who spent time with the Labrador Tigers on the Gold Coast, joins Alec Waterman as the Bombers’ second signing in a week under the AFL’s preseason Supplemental Selection Period. Overlooked in last year’s draft, Baldwin (pictured) had served as captain of South Australia’s under-16 team before suffering ACL injuries in both 2019 and 2020.

The 18-year-old has since made a full recovery and has impressed on the training track with the Bombers.

“I just wanted to work hard and put the most I possibly could into my recovery to try to earn a spot on an AFL list,” Baldwin said.