The SA Lifesaving Championships took place in Gqeberha (Port Elizabeth) recently. Despite very good achievements by Scottburgh Surf Lifesaving Club members at Southern Natal Champs and KZN Champs, only very few competitors made the trip down to PE.
With eight athletes competing, Scottburgh Surf Lifesaving Club athletes achieved some outstanding results.
In the Masters Competition, club treasurer, Bruce Roberts, achieved fantastic results in the 75+ category, winning gold medals in the beach sprint, long run and flag events and silver in the board race. Unfortunately, the Iron Man event was cancelled.
Four Nippers also achieved great results with Bella Edwards finishing fourth in sprints and Cruz Rivetti finishing fifth in flags.
Nathan Jones got unlucky as he injured himself before the competition, but he still managed to finish in sixth position for flags. His sister Abbey Jones surprised everyone by deciding to compete for the very first time in ski and Iron Woman. She ended up respectively in 14th and 10th position.
It was however in the U17 boys’ division where the club achieved the most outstanding results. Tyne van Achterbergh was awarded the overall top U17 male trophy by winning four gold medals in the surf swim, run swim run, kneeboard and Iron Man events.
Tyne also surprised a few senior competitors by finishing third in the men’s surf swim – a fantastic achievement by the young star.
All the great efforts put in by the local athletes were greatly rewarded when Lifesaving KZN announced that Cruz Rivetti, Nathan Jones and Tyne Van Achterbergh were selected to represent the province and compete in Surf Interprovincial in Durban on May 27. This is an amazing achievement for one of the last lifesaving clubs still working on the South Coast.
With SA Champs scheduled to be held in Durban in 2024, and with the continuous ongoing support from all all the club’s amazing sponsors, they hope to have a strong team of Nippers, Juniors, Seniors and Masters representing Scottburgh Surf Lifesaving Club.
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