Bundy, Elliott Heads to the rescue

Emma Finnis, Teisha Towner, Erin Gibson and Hayley Bowman with their under-17 patrol competition gold medals at the state surf rescue championships.

Janet Lindsay

CONGRATULATIONS to our string of competitors from the Bundaberg and Elliott Heads surf life saving clubs, who returned from last weekend's Queensland Surf Rescue Championships at Dicky Beach with a medal haul that included two golds, two silvers and two bronzes, as well as many top-six placings.

Leading the way, from the Bundaberg SLSC, were gold medallists Wendy Johnston (30-39yrs female champion lifesaver) and the under-17 patrol competition team (Emma Finnis, Hayley Bowman, Erin Gibson and Teisha Towner).

Also from the club, siblings Brodie and Abby Johnston joined their mother Wendy on the presentation dais on what was a red-letter day for the tight-knit family, when they both won bronze medals in the U-17 male and U-14 female champion lifesaver events respectively.

Erin Gibson completed the medal haul for Bundaberg with silver in the open female champion lifesaver, despite being only 16 years of age and still eligible for the U-17 age group.

Five more clubmates claimed champion lifesaver top-six finishes.

They were Emma Finnis (fourth U-17 female), Laura Greenhalgh (fifth open female), Hayley Bowman (fifth U-17 female), Kellie Bailey (fifth U-19 female) and Geoff Payne (sixth U-14 male), while the club's open patrol competition team was fourth.

Toni Heaton flew the flag for Elliott Heads when she claimed the club's only medal, a silver in the 40-plus years female champion lifesaver.

Clubmates Liam Wootton (U-14 male) and Amanda Muldoon (open female) also performed admirably to finish fourth and sixth in their respective champion lifesaver events.

The challenge for these competitors (U-15 to masters) now will be to qualify for the Australian championships and then replicate their good form and hopefully bring home a medal.

Only first and second placings from the state championships are guaranteed a start, so Wendy Johnston, Gibson and Toni Heaton, as well as the U-17 patrol team, can already pack their bags, but hopefully there will be other local inclusions in the field.

The Bundaberg open male and open female boat crews, which are both swept by their coach and club president Paul Wessel, also competed at the weekend, in the third round of the Aussie Bum Queensland Cup Surf Boat Series at Peregian Beach.

Both crews rowed themselves into the semi-finals of their divisions.

This result was a great one for the open women in particular, who have been gradually improving throughout the season.

Hopefully this will be the boost they need to lift their confidence going into round four, as well as the state and Australian championships.

It was also a good result for the men, but Wessel had set his sights on a spot in the final for this crew, which had been rowing well through the qualifying rounds.

However, he felt that some technical issues let them down in the semi-final.