The Bondi Surfer No. 117

18 March 2021

Bondi bringing it home in last year's Stan Mac. It's on again on 28 March - be there to see the team go for back-to-back wins. Photography by John Slaytor.

Intro & Welcome

Firstly, I would like to thank all the patrols that have had to deal with miserable weather over the last month or so.  While it is busier and more action on the sunny days, the commitment you show in the foul weather is a reflection of your dedication to keeping our beach safe - thank you.

Thank you too, to all the volunteers who helped make the Bondi Bluewater Classic a success again this year.  While the format was adjusted for COVID conditions, there was a lot of positive feedback on the rolling start, and Huey left the 6m swell until the following Sunday!  Well done to Dori and Nick for running this key fundraiser.

This was the month where Branch and then State carnivals took place, and so many of you wore the Blue and White with honour.  It was wonderful to see growing contingents training over the past few months, but to see more Blue and White caps in every carnival from Nippers, Open and Masters was fantastic.  The competition team and coaches have always believed that points and medals are second to participation, and on that measure we are ahead in every carnival we compete in.  Well done to coaches Chappo, Laura, Jess and all the team managers and section heads who have built up their teams this year. I look forward to seeing even more Bondi tents next year.

You would have seen an advertisement for a new office role.  After a few years, Sue Hinds has left as Junior Activities Administrator and we thank her for her dedication to the huge task of keeping our paperwork for Nippers in line.  We have taken the results from the club survey that sought a wider range of club opening hours, and a review of tasks in the Administration area, and created a new role which will have responsibility for the Junior Administration and activities in the Office to cover more hours.  If you know anyone who would be a good fit, please point them to the application.

Brent Jackson
President

This Week's Patrols

Saturday 20 March
7:30am-1:15pm       Jeppesen  
12:45pm-6:30pm   Craven

Sunday 21 March  
7:30am-1:15pm         Fullwood
12:45pm-6:30pm     Walsh

Events & Reminders

Key Dates

• Stan Mac surf race team trial - 21 March - 10am
• Mick Shearman Memorial Surf Race Round 2 - 21 March 
• Trivia Night - 26 March
• Jack Cox Memorial Surf Race Round 3 - 28 March
• 79th Stan Mac Relay - 28 March
• Australian Championships - Ocean Swim - 18 April
• Australian Championships - Masters - 19-20 April
• Australian Championships - Opens - 21-24 April

Find more information on the Club Facebook page.

Clubbie of the Month

Our March Clubbie of the Month is Alex Ayscough.

It was very hard this month to select a single Clubbie of the Month with so many people putting massive efforts into the Bondi Bluewater Challenge, the Age, Open and Masters carnivals and our Dippers program (plus patrols, education, Nippers, etc.).  Indeed, many of our hardest working volunteers like Steve Hackers, Louise Santos, Gary Emmerton, Narelle Moore, Caroline Pierce, Mark Fabik, and more were noted for massive efforts this month.  However, with so many events to juggle, our IRB Captain managed to keep the boats afloat, the engines running (no small feat as the season nears the end) and teams of skilled IRB drivers and crews on the water and keeping people safe.  IRBs are mandatory for ocean swims and allow the club to compete in Branch and State carnivals and we appreciate the effort of the whole section - but Alex keeps the machine running!  Thanks Alex.

Administration

New Office Administrator at Bondi

Bondi Surf Club is looking for a new office administrator to join the team to expand our support for members. Have a look at the position description here and if you are interested please email your CV to manager@bondisurfclub.com.

Catching Up

Clubbie Show Offs

Entries for our Club Life Photo Competition and Exhibition are now open.

We want to celebrate everything Club Life has to offer and share that with everyone so we're calling for photographers to enter their images of Clubbies patrolling, volunteering, training, competing, ocean swimming, walking or body surfing with friends, socialising, enjoying our beach or or at events.

Think that photo you snapped on your phone that says everything about why you love the Club, the early mornings, the long sunny hours on patrol, that moment that sums up the friendship and fun, the achievement and exhaustion after training, the smile on the face of someone you've helped, the changing conditions (one day big waves, next Lake Bondi). A picture is worth a thousand words but why not get creative with a two-part image, a collage or mosaic?

Thanks to sponsor, Bondi Broker, the best 30 entries as chosen by our jury of five members led by Geoff Sumner will be printed, framed and exhibited.

Everyone is invited to the exhibition which will be on in the Club's Main Hall - May 29-30 and June 5-6.

The three winning entries will be hung in our Clubhouse, all others exhibited will be sold to fund lifesaving education and equipment. Email your entry/ies to clublifephotos@bondisurfclub.com and watch this space for more information on prizes!

Check out the detail at https://bondisurfclub.com/.../club-life-photography.../

Masters of Surf and Sand

Bondi's Masters Team excelled at the NSW Surf Lifesaving Championships held at Swansea-Belmont last weekend (12-14 March). At the end of Saturday they were already on 436 points, eclipsing their impressive 2020 winning point score of 396. By the end of competition they had reached a stellar total of 581 points with second to North Bondi on 395 points 

It's the fourth consecutive win for our Masters team and testament to the hard work and dedication of every competitor and our team of coaches and trainers.

Head coach Robert Chapman pointed out that, while past Masters victories had been due to strong results in the water, the beach team this year added 169 points to the final tally.

"I want to acknowledge the outstanding work of your beach captain Alex Porebski, who has built a very strong beach team. With Jess Thornton as coach, the beach team is going to grow bigger and stronger.

"Also, well done to the growing Lifesaving team under the guidance of Mark Fabik and Kristy McIntyre, who started the weekend off with 30+ points after Friday's lifesaving competition. For the first time Bondi entered two patrol teams in the Patrol competition under the coaching of Max Gonzalez."

Team Bondi Blue was captained by Michael Hallam with Daniel Rosado and Courtney Date in the IRB, Kristy McIntyre as the First Aid Officer and Chris Cooper and Alex Schacht on the board and tube. Team Blue was five points shy of the Bronze medal in its maiden competition. 

Team Bondi White was captained by Adam Nicholson with Julie Pritchard and Evan Van der Knapp in the IRB, Mark Fabik as the First Aid Officer and Verity Newlove and Zoe Fletcher on the board and tube. Julie Pritchard made it an historic double becoming the NSW's first female IRB Driver for Patrol Competition.

The weekend caps off three weeks of State Championships for Bondi which started with our Nippers at the end of February (see below for more on Age and Open results). When the Open Lifesaving points are added to our Open team total, Chappo believes "we may sneak into the top 16 in the open NSW point score - edging closer to a top 10 finish".

Congratulations to everyone who competed and thank you to all those who supported them - Surfsports Director Dori Miller and Deputy Director Nick Nezval, Director of Junior Activities Narelle Moore, our coaches and training activity leaders, parents, Bondi members who officiate, water safety and IRB teams, and Steve Hackers and Gary Emmerton for arranging the transportation of gear, erecting tents and organising accommodation. A mammoth effort by everyone!

You can check out the Masters' full results here. 

The Long Ride

Helen and Rob Watkins at the 3.6km Bussleton Jetty Swim in February in which Rob won the 75-79 category. Helen on her bike and ready to ride.

Long-term member Simon Watkins contacted the Surfer last week to share a proud son moment.  In September last year, Simon's dad Rob was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and as part of the Club's 60km Challenge for Mental Wellness, many of our members donated to Simon's Movember appeal. 

Now his 77-year-old mum Helen is riding 1,000km in 10 days starting today (18 March) to raise funds for the Cancer Council WA. 

"Whilst Rob was going to be faced with many challenges, what he calls 'the potholes' in the road he is travelling, I wanted to challenge myself to do something," she said. "Rob is such an inspiration, is nearly always upbeat and maintains his wicked sense of humour. This is for him, the love of my life."

Simon wrote: "My lovely mum was aiming to raise $500. She is now sitting at over $13k!! Mum is forever supporting my Dad and her amazing husband - what an example to all! Any chance of letting Clubbies know about her 'ride into the sunset'? Dad did help coach the Surf Club to at least seven national titles."

If you want to follow Helen's ride or donate, go to her Do It For Cancer page.

Destination ARTC

Members of Ice Breakers (BM1), Second Wave (BM2) and Legally Bronzed (BM3) will be heading to Pacific Palms SLSC this weekend to sharpen the skills learnt earlier this season. The group will take part in some fun competition as a warm up for the Inter-Bronze Hunger Games (which is being held at Bondi on 10 April) and team-building exercise, surrounded by the idyllic Booti Booti National Park. 

This trip will also give the opportunity for this season’s Bronzies to complete an ARTC course, run in conjunction with members of Pacific Palms SLSC.

Our most recent members, will take over the patrolling duties at Elizabeth Beach under the watchful eye of the leadership team: Robyn Farmer (BM3), Jonathan Potts (BM3), Chris Cooper (BM3), Lina Lygdback (BM2), Michael Delaney (BM3) and Dan Rosado (BM1 and SRC) who will be stepping up as Captains, Vice-Captains and IRB.

Ormsby on Tour

Ormsby patrol, with a little help from Walsh's Lina and Emma, headed down to Garie for a destination patrol on Saturday 27 February. The weather wasn't great but good surf conditions made for some fun on boards.

Thank you to everyone who puts their hand up for destination patrols, helping out smaller clubs and representing Bondi Surf Lifesaving.

Stars of the Small Screen

Bondi Clubbies have featured  in Channel 10's Bondi Rescue in the past couple of weeks. Tom Hough, whose day job is as a meteorologist, provided advice to the Lifeguards on storms at the beach in a briefing in the bunker. You can watch him by clicking on this link.

And John Wilcox took charge when a woman was unable to get on to one of the blue boards, arriving to help then bringing her back to shore himself. John is a regular at Tuesday and Thursday morning Yellow Boards training sessions run by Rex and Blake Hatton and, in typically modest fashion, commented on the post: "Must say thanks to Blake and Rex for the yellow boards training so I came back smoothly in front of the camera. They didn’t mention less than five minutes later he off loaded another patient to me to take to shore." You can watch the Blue v Red and Yellow exchange/collaboration, by clicking on this link.

Bright Future for Surfsports

The NSW Surf Lifesaving Championships were held at Swansea-Belmont over three weeks during February and March and Bondi's team did the Blue and White and themselves proud.

The U9-14 competed during the week of 22-28 February with every Nipper competitor giving their all. Krishna Dewa won back-to-back gold in the Under 10 beach flags and bronze in the beach sprints - after last year becoming Bondi's youngest ever State medallist

In the Opens, Frankie Shires won gold in the U19 Belt Race and made the finals for both the U19 and Open Female Surf Race. She swum into the lead pack in both events but didn’t have much luck with waves on the way back in. Even so, she placed 4th in the Open event. Big congratulations to Frankie and to Cormac, Lachlan, Jay and Carita who also made the surf race finals.

Bondi’s Open Men’s Rescue Tube team of Lachlan Blake, Corman Guthrie, Hugh Anstey and Jay Houlias claimed the bronze medal. Our Open Women’s Tube Rescue team of Carita Luukkanen, Frankie Shires, Giulia Campos and Bella Kulling were 4th in their final. Cormac Guthrie also placed 4th in the Open Men’s Belt Final. The U15 Board Relay team of Summer, Robinson, Anna Hempton and Tara Jeevaratnam made their final.

The team is sitting in 21st overall with 21 points - up from 35th in 2020, trebling their points - and set to get even better when Lifesaving points are added. 

There’s a great spirit and culture amongst this growing Opens group, the pioneers for our Surfsports future with many of them working towards competing in skis as well next year.

Education

First ARTC of the season was completed successfully. Big thanks to course trainers Max Gonzalez and Robyn Farmer, and to Marissa Saunders and Jim Kornmehl for assessing. We are currently organising use of North Bondi's room for another course in April and will be doing ARTC courses in the off-season. This course teaches use of oxygen and other vital lifesaving skills. Anyone interested in future courses, please register your interest with the office. 

BM4 have graduated! A brilliant job done by Mason Kemeny, Anne Marie Kruk and the rest of the training team. A small but highly skilled new batch of Bronzies are now on the beach.

BM5 are doing mocks this week and heading to assessment next week (Sunday 28 March). Their graduation will be on at 7pm at Bottles that evening, on the same day as Bondi hosts the Stan Mac in the afternoon. It's a huge course so it's going to be quite the party - see you there!

Finally the biggest news from Education, the Hunger Games are almost here! On Saturday 10 April we will see which Bronze group is the hungriest for fame and glory. New Bronzies get in touch with your Lead or Mentor Trainers now.

Finally on a personal note, Director of Education Amber Jones has left the inner west and returned to her spiritual home much nearer the beach. Expect to see her at Education events, Bottles and around the Club generally a lot more from now on.

SYOTB

Surf Sports

Stan Mac Relay

There's a surf race trial for those who want to be considered for Bondi's Stan Mac team this Sunday 21 March at 10am. If you think you've got what it takes, get down to the beach and give it a go. You'll need to have at least a 5 min 30 sec time for 400m in the pool to be considered. 

Then, next Sunday 28 March at 2pm is the main event - the 79th Annual Stan and Basil McDonald Relay.

For those new to Bondi Surf Club, the Stan Mac Relay, as it is affectionately known, is a 20-person surf race relay between Bondi and North Bondi surf clubs. This year will be the 79th consecutive year the race has been run. 

This event is an iconic race in Australian folklore and most certainly there is a fierce rivalry between the two clubs. It was in the 1942/43 surf season that Stan McDonald, head lifeguard on Bondi Beach and also commonly regarded as 'The King of Bondi', initiated the relay between the two clubs in an attempt to enhance camaraderie between North and South. Stan was a member of both clubs and devoted 47 years of his life to the service of visitors to Bondi Beach.

Alex Porbeski Architects is once again sponsoring the Bondi for the event, kitting the team and supporters out in limited edition event T-shirts.  

Bondi is hosting this year's relay on Sunday 28 March at 2:00pm. So save the date and come down to cheer on our Bondi team. 

Competition

The results for the Sydney Branch Championships, held at Maroubra in February, were announced last week. Bondi's Masters team again dominated taking out the point score with 269 points, with second to Bronte (231 points) and third Bronte (106 points).

We've also seen three weeks of competition at the NSW Surf Lifesaving Championships at Swansea-Belmont. Our Masters came away with their fourth consecutive win, with our growing Opens team moving up the ranks and and a back-to-back gold in flags for Krishan Dewa, our youngest ever State medallist at the Age championships (there's more in Catching Up). 

Training Activities

Paul Capper, Isabella Kulling, Rory Davey and Charlie Watts heading out  (Images by Tim Read). Love Squad hit the beach last Friday (Image by Garry Beath). 

With Autumn here, it may be a little dark in the morning but the water is warm (at 22-23 degrees), the sunrises are spectacular and there's still training activities every day of the week, just a little later with a 6.15am start. Head down to the beach and enjoy training with friends! Remember to CHECK IN and CHECK OUT using the Service NSW QR code.

• Monday - Intermediate/Advanced Ski - 5:45am
• Tuesday - Intermediate/Advanced Ski - 5:45am
• Tuesday - Boards with Robert Chapman - 6:15am 
• Tuesday - Yellow Boards with Rex Hatton - 6:15am
• Wednesday - Beach Sprints with Jess Thornton - 6:15pm
• Thursday - Intermediate/Advanced Ski - 5:45am
• Thursday - Boards with Robert Chapman - 6:15am
• Thursday - Yellow Boards with Rex/Blake Hatton - 6:15am
• Friday - Surf Ins and Outs with Gary Emmerton - 6.15am
• Saturday - Intermediate/Advanced Ski - 7:00am
• Saturday - Transitions with Robert Chapman - 7.00am
• Sunday - Soft sand running before the Surf Race with Alex Porebski - 9:30am

If you're interested in competing, make sure you're signed up to the Bondi Surf Club Training Squad Facebook group where you'll get all the information on training, events and carnivals.

Meet the Activity Leaders

Jess Thornton is Bondi's Beach Events Coach. She has competed in Surf Lifesaving championships since she started with Coogee SLSC as a Nipper and is a five-time Aussie's gold medallist (2xU15, 2xU17 and 1xOpen title). Off the beach she won gold in the 400m at Youth Olympic Games in Nanjing China in 2014, came fourth at the 2016 World U20 Championships and made the final at the 2016 Rio Olympic Games in Australia's 4x400m relay team. The ride since has been a roller coaster of injuries for Jess, but she's working towards the Tokyo Olympics this year.

At Bondi she gets praise from everyone that  comes to her coaching days for her enthusiasm, great tips and great smile. She really is a great asset for the Club. 

Jess says: "I'm looking forward to getting back into beach running and competing in the Blue and White for Bondi in beach events. [It is, after all, the best club in Australia! - added Beach Captain Alex]." 

Life Member Q & A

Of Boats - Rowed and Revved

This month Michael Fischer chats with Life Member and club stalwart, Leo Hyde.

Good morning Leo. Thanks for joining us today. Can we begin with your reasons for joining Bondi?
Pleasure Michael, I joined on 13 August 1964 and I came from the swimming club, like so many - Peter Quartly, Graeme Gairns, Doug Grevitt, Dave Peers, to name a few. In those days it was normal practice to  join the surf club from the swimming club.

You’ve been very active in the club. Can you run through the many positions you’ve held?
Okay, let me see … I got my Bronze in 1967, Instructor's 1977, IRB Silver Medallion in 1977 - actually I started IRB at Bondi in 1974, Secretary 1975-1977, Assistant Gear Steward 1978, Vice President House 2003, Assistant Secretary 2004-2006, Vice President Judiciary 2006, Committee 2007-09, Director of Administration 2009-17, Elected Life Member at the 2012 AGM. And maybe a few assistant roles along the way.

Wow! Great memory Leo. After so many years, you must have come across some real characters. Can you give us a few names?
Ha! Well … Teddy and Cyril Baldock, Bob Leitch, Mark Fischer, Greg Solomons, Keiran Speed. There’s a few.

Any truth in the rumour that you’re related to the famous Rugby League caller, Frank Hyde?
No.

Why would you advise a young person to join this famous club?
I would tell them that you’ll form lifelong friendships; I have for sure. The lifesaving skills you gain and the potential to save lives. And of course the spirit of volunteering, the satisfaction you gain from that.

What do you see as Bondi’s challenges in the next few years? 
Easy - our biggest challenge is to find the funds to rebuild the clubhouse. On the sand we are strong in competition and we are getting stronger. Our Veterans are also very strong. We need to keep building on this.

And finally Leo, what is your fondest memory as a member of this great surf club?
Easy. My time rowing with Bob Reid. Starting up the IRB group and my ongoing friendships with my peer group.

[Al Scott's Bondi Blog says of Reid: "Boat Sweeps tend to be larger than life characters, famous for their exploits. They bond in a sort of 'Sweeps Club', meeting at Surf Carnivals and drinking together after. Bob Reid was a great sweep on a wave and trained many junior crews. Not the most outspoken of boaties, Bob’s nickname was 'Silent Sam'. Bob would often get a scratch crew together to row out and catch waves. His ability to catch and hold big waves was second to none. Bob was also a top tennis player and long standing Treasurer of our Club.]

Thanks Leo. Stay safe.

Patrol in Focus

IRBs Off and Racing

The members of Bondi’s IRB section have a deserved reputation for being amongst our hardest working. IRB crew and drivers don’t just have patrol obligations – the section is also tasked to assist with Nippers and Competition water safety, support Club events like the Bluewater and even help out our neighbouring clubs with their fundraising swims. Doing this takes a lot of dedicated people.

Over the past few seasons, IRB Captain Alex Ayscough has been working to improve the connection of the IRB crew and drivers to their patrols to improve retention and, with the support of the IRB training team, increase the numbers of drivers and crew.

Alex says: “From what I’ve been told by people who were around then, we used to have to shift a lot of IRB crew and drivers to different patrols each season, basically so Bondi was meeting its patrol requirements. This led to a lack of connection to patrols for IRB members and also made recruitment of new members challenging as people understandably didn’t want to leave their patrols if they became IRB crew. Belinda [Hartmann, former Director of Lifesaving], gave the section a great start to changing this by mounting a big campaign to improve crew numbers and we’re really just trying to see the plan through to more drivers and ultimately more IRB trainers.”

A challenge the section has had to overcome is the fear of injury. “I don’t quite know where this came from, but somewhere along the line we [the section] developed a reputation for hurting people, at least generally within the Club. If you ask pretty much anyone in the IRB section what they think of doing their Crew, they’ll focus on what mad fun it is, but when new Bronzies ask people who aren’t IRB qualified, the focus of people’s response tends to be on how they’ll just get hurt. I obviously can’t 100% guarantee that there won’t be any injuries, but it’s not even close to most people’s experience to get injured on the Crew Course and we try our absolute hardest to make sure people are safe and secure in the boats.”

Alex has been working hard to correct this perception and also ensure the training techniques employed by the training team have a strong focus on safety and correct technique so that new crew feel confident in the boat and know where to place themselves so they’re in the safest position possible at all times.

“Nixy [Krite] joining us has been a huge help here. She’s got so much Support Operations experience, where the training really just has more rigour to it and she’s 150% focused on making sure we at Bondi are doing things safely in the ducks”.

The Crew Course format has recently been changed to run over three intensive weekends, with a weeknight dry training session at the start to ensure all crew candidates are drilled in proper technique before they even get on the water. In the past two seasons, the section has trained nearly 50 new crew, which has created a strong pipeline for future drivers.

“The first step in strengthening the IRB section was expanding our crew numbers and generating a pipeline of future drivers. Every one of Bondi’s 14 patrols now has multiple crew so they’re not spending their whole time on patrol in the IRB. That also means that there’s less of a divide between those in the IRB and the rest of the patrol. If our crew are not in the IRB, they’re patrolling as Bronze members on the beach. They have other skills they can, and wish to, contribute to patrol.”

Expanding the number of drivers in the section is the next item on the IRB agenda, one that’s been given a head start with Kristy Smith, Julie Pritchard and Nixy Krite’s transfer to Bondi during the past two seasons. All three women also volunteer on Surf Rescue 30 are absolute dynamos. They’re at the core of Bondi’s IRB Racing Team which last year won the Club’s first Australian IRB racing gold medal after a long drought.

As Alex commented: “The section would be in a much more precarious place right now if those three drivers hadn’t transferred to Bondi when they did. And beyond having additional driver resources, it’s a big help to have three strong female role models for our crew who are thinking about driving.”

A Drivers Course is run each winter, when there are less surfers and the surf is typically big enough to provide a good training environment for candidates. “Not all crew end up as drivers and that’s totally fine. You have to have the right temperament,” Alex says. “Driving on a beach like Bondi is a big responsibility and it takes clear judgement, concentration and precision to navigate the break without hurting your crew or the equipment. We’re essentially looking for really responsible rev-heads who keep in the back of their minds how visible they are driving a bright orange boat in that bay.”

The IRB section does also get to have some fun after all their hard work for the season is done – by racing ducks in winter. Bondi’s IRB racing team are lucky enough to be coached by Damien Woods and Nixy Krite who are the NSW State team coach and assistant coach respectively.

“I think having a racing team is a real help with recruitment of new members and also a great opportunity for crew and drivers to hone their skills and bring these back to patrol. We’re so lucky to have Damien and Nixy training us as for a club trying to re-start competing after a ~10 year hiatus, it’s a huge leg up. I mean we managed to win an Australian gold medal in our first season back and came third overall in the Masters category so that’s not too shabby”.

The Club’s other IRB trainers – Dan Fell, Toby Iemma, Brent Jackson, Jean-Paul Buhagiar, Nixy and Ronny Krite – are all on board with the plans for a stronger and more sustainable IRB section. They’re looking forward to engaging more members with a pilot Bronze to IRB crew course next season, providing advanced skills training and expanded proficiencies, and hosting more workshops and social events. And hopefully eventually – getting a bit more time off!

With this team at the wheel, the IRB section at Bondi is off and racing – in more ways than one.

IRB Captain: Alex Ayscough; IRB Trainers: Dan Fell, Toby Iemma, Brent Jackson, Jean-Paul Buhagiar, Nixy Krite, Ronny Krite. IRB Drivers: Keiran Pearce (Baldock), Brent Jackson (Bassingthwaite), Jimmy Carrigan and Toby Iemma (Besomo), Thomas Wetula (Craven), Stephen Douglas (Douglas), Jasmine Parker (Fletcher), Daniel Fell (Fullwood), Sarah Chard and Stephen Winnall (Hutchings), Alex Ayscough and Rich Nicholas (Jeppesen), Ed Oakden and Donal O'Brien (McDonald), Paul Buckley-Schmidt and Daniel Rosado (Meagher), Julie Pritchard and Kristy Smith (Nightingale), Jean-Paul Buhagiar (Ormsby), Greg Charles and Timothy Hornsey (Walsh); IRB Crew: Arnaud Berkmans, Keith Cullen, Elijah Magee, James Quinn-Kumar and Evan Van Der Knapp (Baldock), Justin Jefferies and Jules Kirk (Bassingthwaite), Scott Britton, Stephan Prils and Noa Sexton (Besomo), Adam d'Angelo, Nicolas Eulry and David Van Gogh (Craven), Ari Katz, Jonathon Le, Nat Manoy and Sean Sandilands (Douglas), Courtney Date, Jeanne Ilves, Anne-Marie Kruk and John Macleay (Fletcher), Matias Bengolea, Blake Hatton and Avani Javagkar (Fullwood), Michael Delaney and Mitchell Donnelly (Hutchings), Joseph Carello and Sarah Forde (Jeppesen), Wilson Huang, Jack Jackson, Josh Magdas, Pete Magdas, Glenn Mussillon and Kristin Nagy (McDonald), Allan Carr, Damon Somerfield (Meagher), Abi Dodgson, Emil Hasche and Isabella Kulling (Nightingale), Denise Meuldijk, Will Mitchell, Logan Ryan and Bart Van Ooy (Ormsby), Hansel Lee, Allison Legg and Corey Williams (Walsh).

Marketing & Sponsorship

Looking for Club gear to see you through the rest of the season and into the winter months. There are plenty of warm hoodies and zip front jackets on offer. 

If you got to the Club website and click on Shop, you can buy all your Bondi merchandise and it will get shipped directly to you.

What's Been Happening at the Club

Watch The Dippers Grow

Time flies when you're having fun! The Bondi Dippers program (run as a partnership between Autism Swim and Bondi SBSLC) is nearing the end of another successful season. There is one thing that's certain, both Participants and our amazing club Volunteers are going to be equally missed by each other.

The Dippers program is like none other bringing together inclusivity and what unites us all – our love of the water. It has been amazing to watch relationships grow, and an understanding of water safety increase along with skill level of participants.

As Autism Swim work to grow this inclusive program we feel right at home on the shores of Bondi. Our participants come from all over Sydney for the programme, which has a huge extensive for participants.

We could not run this free program without the support of the club, volunteers and sponsors. Thank You! - Kat Neylan, Autism Swim Events & Partnerships Manager and Bondi SBSLC Member

Footprints in the Sand

On Saturday 6 March, Meagher patrol met with friends from the 2021 Melanoma March Campaign at the patrol tent prior to the start of our shift. Before setting up we took a couple of photos and wrote messages of support and safety for those we know or love that have had an experience with melanoma. We are passionate about sun safety and protecting ourselves and encouraging others to do the same whilst in the sun, particularly on long patrol days or when visiting the beach. 

"This year is the 10th anniversary of Melanoma Institute Australia's National Melanoma March campaign. Due to COVID, the traditional family-friendly physical events have been replaced with an interactive digital campaign that all Australians can step up and take part in. Australians are being asked to buy a $30 digital footprint in support of the one Aussie every 30 minutes who is told they have melanoma. Each footprint is then personalised with a message of support or hope, and shared to socials to spread the word.

Throughout the month of March, Melanoma Institute Australia wants to progressively cover its map of Australia with digital footprints, and in the process raise $500,000 for lifesaving research to develop new treatments for melanoma. This is much-needed money as COVID meant there was significant shortfall in funding last year." 

The 2.4 metre footprints, with written messages, are a mark for Melanoma.  We are proud to support Melanoma March and I am thankful to the Meagher patrol group for helping us raise awareness and hopefully generate funds and additional support for Melanoma March this year 2021. - Rose MacMahon

Blue Water Day

On Sunday 28 February, we held the 2021 Bondi Blue Water Challenge.  Around 600 swimmers and runners entered in four events held on the day. 

This year's winners were:

• Male 2.1km Swim - Harry Came, Ned Weiland, Duke Weiland
• Female 2.1km Swim - Dori Miller, Jacqui Schafer, Beth Signal
• Male 4km Run - Brendan O'Mahony, Anthony Slaven, Anthony Spurrett
• Female 4km Run - Jacqueline Bugg, Isabelle Bugg, Sophia Bugg
• Male 500m Swim - Ollie Moclair, Philip Marciniak, Jim Donaldson
• Female 500m Swim - Lyla Hyder, Lou Cooreman, Alexane Barraud
• Male 1km Swim - Harry Came, Ned Weiland, Duke Weiland
• Female 1km Swim - Jacqui Schafer, Beth Signal, Ash Southern

Thanks to everyone who made the event such a success. To the runners and swimmers, to the organisers and water safety, the IRB drivers and crew who placed the cans and patrolled out the back, those who set up the beach, in the first aid tent, on registrations and running the barbecue - congratulations on a job well done. 

Thanks to our team of photographers for the fabulous pix here - Andrew from Big lens Little lens, Alex from alexocsmiley on the sand, and Will Mitchell out the back. There's more on their Facebook and Instagram pages and on the Bondi Blue Water Facebook page. 

Events like this cannot happen without the support of so many including event sponsors - Engine Swim, Orange Theory Fitness, DMC Fins, Harris Farm Markets and Bountifull. 

You can check out all the results here.

Silver Salties' Success

Lea heading out; Holly on water safety, Rozanne at the start line; and Margaret (centre) at the presentation. In-water images courtesy of  Big lens Little lens.

Gold for Bondi Surf Club's Silver Salties- SLSA Walk & Talk group at the Blue Water Challenge.

• Margaret Wilby - 1st - 70-74yrs - 2.1km swim
• Lea Hill - 1st - 75+years - 1km swim
• Rozanne Green - 1st - 60-64yrs - 4km run
• Rozanne Green - 1st - 60-64yrs - 2.1km swim

Great support from Bondi Surf Club and other Silver Salties Peter Quartly on First Aid, Holly Joffri on Water Safety and Chenta Rolley as cheer squad. - Rozanne Green

We Choose to Challenge

It should come as no surprise that the ladies of Bondi IRB aren’t afraid of a challenge, so this year’s International Women’s Day theme of “Choose to Challenge” suited them down to the ground.

Nixy Krite moved to Bondi this year and as well as being an IRB driver is also heavily involved in Support Operations including as an RWC (Jetski) operator and trainer and as a Surf Rescue 30 driver and trainer. She gives a lot of her time and effort to Surf Lifesaving, so far this season completing over 400 hours on patrols.

To celebrate IWD this year, Bondi were lucky enough to benefit from her initiative to organise a workshop for the women of Bondi IRB, as well as any Bronze Medallion holders who were curious about the section and the further pathways that jumping into a duck can lead to. Many of the IRB section’s most active women – including Sarah Forde, Kristy Smith, Fiona Phelps and Sarah Chard – attended and were joined by others including Eve Wheeler and Emma Savage keen on getting out behind the break. The workshop was also attended by two of Bondi IRB’s long-time IRB trainers Dan Fell and Ronny Krite who are very supportive of increasing the number of women in the section.

The focus of the workshop was to promote the development of IRB operating skills and knowledge, broaden experience of the craft, share knowledge on understanding maintenance and mechanics of the craft and promote, recruit and retain women in the IRB space. While the water based part of the program was a little hampered by the conditions on the day, participants were able to share learnings across crewing and driving technique, how to start recalcitrant motors, how to troubleshoot engine issues and share great ideas on how to recruit, train and retain more women in the section. 

One of the issues discussed was awareness of the opportunities for training beyond the bronze course and particularly for the IRB, holding “try it before you sign up” sessions. Eve said that she came along to the workshop as “she wanted to check and see if she could do it before signing up to the whole course” and Emma commented that she “wasn’t sure she would be good crew” but coming to the workshop gave them both a lot more confidence to join a future course.

For the ladies already part of the section, the workshop was a great opportunity to refine their skills and learn a couple of new tricks as well as reflect on their own experiences in joining and being a part of the section to develop clearer and more supportive pathways for other women. Alex shared that when she became crew, just slightly ahead of both Sarahs who did their crew course together, there was only one female driver currently in the section.

“At the time, it felt like she was viewed almost as a unicorn, like female drivers were rare beings. Without her as a role model and indeed her pushing me to also do my drivers I don’t think I would have believed I could," says Sarah Chard. "When I then went to an ALBERT course and met so many other awesome female drivers from other clubs, it was a real eye opener for me – it sounds silly but I realised it was totally normal for women to be IRB drivers and that changed my approach to training for that award. I just really want to create an environment at Bondi where female crew don’t doubt that the pathway to driver, and indeed trainer and Jetski and other craft is for them”.

Sarah Chard is Bondi’s newest female IRB driver and she valued the “non-threatening environment [the workshop created] which enabled everyone to have fun, be honest, brave, share experiences and learn”. Injury was a topic of discussion on the day and Sarah shared her experience of breaking her ankle as an IRB crew back in 2019. “My injury was one of the more serious in the section in recent times but being in the IRB is so much fun it was never going to stop me getting back in.” She was supported through her return to the section this season and qualified as our latest driver in January. 

Fiona, who has crewed with another club for the past two seasons, thought the day was a great educational experience and learnt a lot from the mentoring provided on the day. “I would highly recommend all my female IRB associates to attend this workshop if it’s offered again, which I so hope it will be”.

Since the event Nixy has been hard at work to ensure that the feedback from participants of the workshop is incorporated into the IRB section’s recruitment and training strategies. “The feedback from this workshop will benefit both male and female members, and I think on International Women’s Day its important to reflect on that – if you lift women, you lift everyone. I’m really excited to be part of a club that are so supportive of initiatives like this led by female members.”

Social

The Club Trivia Night is on Friday 26 March with special guest host Antonio Castaldo.

Tickets are $15 per person, you can buy individual or combined tickets, up to a max of 8. Teams of max 8 on the night. Go to the link to get yours!

And Bottles is on this Sunday 21 March. The Blue Room will be open to members and guests from 5:00pm. So come along for a catch-up, but please follow the COVID guidelines at all times.

Nippers 

By Emma Blake

Our fantastic Nippers contingent will complete a very different season this Sunday. And for the Green caps (U14s) it will be their farewell to the junior club as they embark on their new status as SRCs.

After nine years together, Jo Egan said, she and her fellow age managers Sam Ryan, Vince Turco and Tim Catley will assemble their large group of 32 on the beach before a fun-filled send off.

“Green cap Graduates … will meet on the beach and be involved in water safety and have final Green cap water time as a group,” Jo said. “They will get to leave the beach through 'The Tunnel of Juniors' and have a graduation lunch presentation in the Main Hall where we will acknowledge our trainers, club leaders and coaches.”

“One of our families is authentically Mexican and we will have a Mexican lunch which is sponsored by our families and Harris Farm Market.  As is the tradition, next year’s U14s, the Purple caps, will help with the luncheon."

It has been a tumultuous season weather wise and the U14s learned this very early on in their SRC training with massive swells and wild winds keeping them on their toes. But, as reported last year, all of them passed their training and have been patrolling and helping with water safety ever since.

“Our graduates were able to nominate a preferred patrol and have enjoyed joining their assigned patrols in selected groups and starting new friendship groups,” Jo added. “They look very smart and mature all dressed in their new yellow and red surf lifesaving uniforms and have responsibly attended patrols to learn more skills from the senior club members in real life situations”. 

“Well done to everyone for their dedication to the SRC training. It has been incredible watching how quick and versatile each member of our Green caps is when they are interested, engaged and listening!” 

Jo also thanked Captains Jessie Ryan and Declan Fletcher who “did their jobs extremely diligently and proudly represented our Bondi club at Branch Youth Lifesaver of the Year”. 

Surf Race

Memorial Events Calendar

Mick Shearman Round 2 - 21 March 2021
Jack Cox Round 3 - 28 March 2021

Race Report - Week 25 - March 14

Fellow Surfers,

Probably the worst Sunday morning of the season. It was raining when I got down for patrol and it was still raining as I left around 2. The sea was being hit by a southerly and led to some challenging conditions.

It was decided not to put a buoy out and we had a volunteer to swim out with a Tube to act as the marker, however, by consensus it was agreed to just have a swim and everyone get two points. To all those who did make it down, a big thanks, for making the effort, for which I thank you.

The previous week saw a big sea and some great racing. I am looking for the member who won A Grade on 21 February. Can you please let me know?  Dori won the week before.

We still have the Mick Shearman on this week, which is part of “Patrol Efficiency” so I’m looking forward to seeing a big contingent.  The following week is the third round of the Jack Cox, so I expect to see at least Dori on the sand.

Remember we go right through to the end of the season.

Please remember COVID protocols are still in place and I thank everyone for their assistance in adhering to them.  We are recording starters in front of the Club, with B Graders going down to start and the A Graders waiting until after they have entered the water to come down. The Cadets are already down on the beach. It is important to “socially distance” around the starting area, especially with the beach so congested around Nipper areas. If you can get down a little earlier than normal, it certainly helps getting the racers started on time.

It was great seeing the sea have such an impact on the races.  Hopefully this augurs well for the future, however, whatever happens we look forward to seeing you all next week and in the weeks to come.

Cheers
Doc

Mick Shearman Memorial Trophy 

This Sunday is the second round of the Mick Shearman Memorial Trophy, considered by some as Bondi Surf Club's most prestigious surf race award. It was first run in the 1944 and is now in its 77th season.

The trophy is awarded to our most efficient Bronze medallion holder – completing all their patrols and competing in all surf races and the two rounds of resuscitation competition that are part of the Mick Shearman race days (6 Dec 2020 and 21 Mar 2021 this season).

Mick Shearman was a 19-year-old bank clerk when he gained his Bronze Medallion in the 1939-40 season then went off the war. He died in May 1943 in an “aircraft accident” while serving with 3 Squadron of the RAAF in Tunisia and his father, a long-term member, donated the trophy in his memory.

HANDICAPPING AND POINTS
1st = + 40 seconds
2nd = +30 seconds
3rd = + 20 seconds
Three consecutive races and no placings = - 15 seconds
Five weeks and three races and no placings = - 10 seconds
Over five weeks and three races = - 5 seconds
Attend and race cancelled - 2 points
Also allocated special race days where everyone gets an extra point for starting

Surf Race Images - Week 22 - February 21

Member Benefits

For great Clubbie discounts, look out for the Bondi sticker at friendly local businesses!

Don’t forget to check out the Member Benefits poster in the Club to discover new businesses supporting us.

Director of Marketing, Sponsorship and Merchandise
marketing@bondisurfclub.com

Office

Summer Office Hours
Monday-Thursday 9:00am-3:00pm, Friday 9:00am-1:00pm, Sunday 9:00am-12:00pm, Closed Saturdays and public holidays.

ARTICLES FOR THE SURFER

If you have an interesting article concerning a member, past or present, please direct them to editor@bondisurfclub.com.

Phone:  +61 2 9300 9279
Fax:  +61 2 9300 9596
Email:  info@bondisurfclub.com