WANDA’S 7TH ANNUAL TRADIES ONE CLUB CARNIVAL
Wanda SLSC Tradies One Club surf carnival
Saturday, 26 November 2022
Over 1,250 competitors hit the beach on Saturday for the annual Wanda SLSC Tradies One Club surf carnival, with the carnival also hosting the 5,000 Summer of Surf tour for 2022/2023. Due to conditions, this years carnival saw racing spread across the Bate Bay beaches, with racing at Wanda, Cronulla and North Cronulla beaches.
Leading athletes, masters and nippers from clubs across the greater Sydney region took part in the Wanda SLSC event, now in its seventh year.
Overall carnival honours went to the home club Wanda SLSC, winning the Tradies Trophy for highest pointscore, followed by South Maroubra, North Cronulla, Coogee and Cronulla rounding out the top five.
“Our carnival brings together competitors of all ages, gender and ability” said Nathan Spinner, Wanda SLSC Club President.
“It’s all about young and older generations participating together, enjoying a great day out and putting their lifesaving skills on display,” said Mr Spinner.
First event for the day was the Open 2km beach run, with Ludovic Lew Maroubra SLSC and Wanda’s own Emma Blanch crossing the line first in the testing event.
The bigger surf conditions and limited beach space saw the relocation of younger water competitors to Cronulla beach, while the older athletes relished in the waves. Wanda’s Britney Pierce took out the open women’s iron race, while her sister, Elyssa, navigated the difficult surf breaks to win the ski race. Lizzie Welborn Newport SLSC took out the board race, and Georgia Singleton from Manly won the open swim.
In the open men’s water events, the Bate Bay clubs showed their talent with Wanda’s Noah Steiner winning the swim, North Cronulla’s Cruz McKee taking out the board and Jay Furniss from Cronulla securing the win in the iron race. Open ski honours went to Luke Morrison of Newport SLSC.
Cronulla SLSC Max Geronimo edged out North Cronulla SLSC Kobe Sorensen to win the Brooks Marc Leabeater Memorial Trophy in the Opens Men’s Sprint, the trophy presented by Marc’s parents Larry and Tania.
In the beach events at North Cronulla, Cronulla’s Nicole Jones won the open women’s sprint, with Newport’s Bailee Radford placing second. Cronulla SLSC Josh Tattam battled hard to win the open men’s beach flags, with Bailee Radford taking out the women’s event.
Hundreds of u9-u14 nippers also took part in the carnival. Competition was fierce amongst Bate Bay clubs, but also a range of other clubs including North Bondi, Maroubra and North Curl Curl and further afield from Cooks Hill, Redhead, Gerringong, and Warilla Barrack Point.
“Carnivals like ours cannot happen without lots of support. We particularly thank our sister clubs Cronulla SLSC and North Cronulla SLSC for their willingness to help with the use of their beaches and resources, as well as the Sutherland Shire Council and Lifeguard team for all their assistance. A big thank you also to all the officials and volunteers who made the day possible, and the ongoing support from our key sponsor Tradies”, said Mr Spinner.
