Day for the Nottens
FISH Hoek’s Nic Notten produced a stunning performance to win the coveted Iron race at the General Tire Lifesaving South Africa National
Club Surf Championships.
It proved a brilliant day for the Nottens’, with Anna (Notten) winning two individual golds (two kilometre beach run and female board race) and one team gold in the female open board race relay.
South Africa’s finest masters, nippers, juniors and seniors have been doing battle at Port Elizabeth’s Kings Beach all week, with the latter part dedicated to the very best men and women in the open division.
The core of Team SA’S world championship squad has been in action. These men and women have shown their class and reinforced why they were selected to represent South Africa.
Notten, who returned from the world championships in Australia with a gold medal, recovered from a third place in the surf swim to take gold in the grueling Iron event.
Marine’s Carmel Billson also proved unstoppable in winning the female Iron.
Billson has no equal when it comes to female lifesaving in South Africa across stillwater, pool and surf. She has been exceptional this year in being the leading female in the open division at the stillwater nationals in Bloemfontein and also in the pool national club championships earlier in the week at Port Elizabeth’s Newton Park.
Her form in the surf in the last two days has been as commanding and compelling.
Billson’s national teammate, Durban Surf’s Mandi Maritz, was also outstanding in winning gold in the flags.
Maritz’s crown as queen of the sand is safe for another year.
In 2018 Maritz took double gold and she continues to set the standard in female flags and sprints.
Umhlanga Rocks’ Connor Botha was sensational in becoming the first teenager to take gold in the men’s open division. Botha also was a frequent podium winner in the junior division.
Botha made history when he became the first ever teenager to win the men’s open run/swim/run.
And the prodigiously talented Botha repeated his success when he also became the first teenager to win the men’s open surf swim. Botha, just 17 years-old, beat Marine’s Travis Maasdorp and Fish Hoek’s (Nic) Notten into second and third place.
Botha is the son of iconic South African lifesaving international
Dylan Botha.
The veterans in South African lifesaving, however, showed they weren’t willing to let go just yet, with Ryle de Morny also adding gold to his decade of golds at the National Championships.
De Morny is the most famed South African flags and beach sprint specialist. He is also the current world champion in the flags.
De Morny, who in 2017 and 2018 lost to Scottsburgh’s Jonathan Rorke in the sprint final, benefitted from Rorke’s disqualification in the semifinal.
Rorke false-started and was given the boot, which was unfortunate as there had been so much prechampionship hype around whether he could do the treble of De Morny.
De Morny had earlier in the day cut his foot, so credit to him for still managing to reclaim his sprint title.
The Surf senior and junior championships finish on Saturday and the Nippers also complete their schedule in the final day of action at Newton Park.