Welcome to the April Edition
of the
Surf Life Saving Illawarra Newsletter
With April here, we enter the last month of our volunteers patrolling our beaches.
Our volunteers finish their last patrol on Sunday the 27th of April and then return to patrol in September 2025. Wollongong City Council continue to operate flags at North Wollongong Beach between May and September (pending conditions). You can download the Beachsafe app to ensure you are visiting a patrolled beach and the app will tell you what time the flags are in operation.
Our members continue to volunteer their time to search and rescues and emergency call outs during the off season and give their time to planning for the next patrolling season. We are so grateful for these members who continue to volunteer their time to keep our community safe and our clubs operating.
Thank you again to all our club members and patrolling members who work so hard to ensure we continue to keep our community safe on the beach by consistently showing up for patrol, it's no mean feat after a long and busy season!
As we come to the end of the patrolling season and head into the off season, our clubs start to hold their club presentations to celebrate their members and Surf Life Saving Illawarra holds our Annual Awards of Excellence (AOE), where members from our 17 clubs in the Illawarra can come together and celebrate another great season and the achievements of our hard-working members.
Our AOE will be held on Friday the 20th of June at City Beach Function Centre and nominations our now open for clubs to nominate members. If someone at your club has stood out to you or you know a club member who has gone above and beyond, contact your club to put them forward for nomination!
In surf sports, a number of our members from our Illawarra clubs travelled to the Gold Coast to compete at Australian Surf Life Saving Championships. Well done to all members who were competing, with many lucky enough to come back to the Illawarra with medals.
A very Happy Easter to all our members and their families and a huge thank you to our patrolling and rescue services members who continue to volunteer their time over the upcoming public holidays and Sundays!
Download Beachsafe App!
Access the latest information about every Australian beach or find a beach near you including local conditions and lifesaving services. There’s also safety advice and information about flags, signs, rips, waves and more.
Surf Life Saving recommends swimming at patrolled beaches, between the red and yellow flags.
Education Courses
Upcoming Branch Courses
Rescue Watercraft (RWC) Training
The next RWC Course will commence in May, and we are currently taking interest from members who wish to be join our Rescue Services Team
RWC Operators require the minimum to begin the course:
17 years of age to enrol in the course
18 years of age on assessment date
Current financial member of any club within SLS
Current Bronze Medallion; and
A current and valid driver license with a vehicle capable to tow (especially in SAR tasks).
To find out more information and to register your interest, please visit Circular 2419 on our website. Expressions of interest close Sunday the 4th of May.
Australian Lifesaving Championships.
The SLSNSW State Championships were recently held on the Gold Coast, Queensland at North Kirra SLSC and Tugun SLSC from 29 March – 6 April.
The competition involved beach and water events, including surf boats and saw multiple members from the Illawarra compete.
Mother Nature delivered a myriad of seasons, rain, large surf and then beautiful sunshine, with the change in weather events were postponed and rescheduled and our competitors bravely battled the elements in some events and continued to give their all.
Competitors from the following Illawarra clubs were involved in competition: Helensburgh-Stanwell Park, Coledale, Thirroul, Bulli, Woonona, Corrimal, North Wollongong, Wollongong City, Port Kembla and Windang.
Well done to all our Illawarra competitors and congratulations to the following members who received medals in their events.
Nate Heffernan- Helensburgh-Stanwell Park- 1st U14 2KM Beach Run
Todd Andrews- Helensburgh-Stanwell Park- 3rd 50-54years Men's Beach Flags
Davina Strauss- Coledale- 1st 45-49years Women's Beach Flags & 1st yrs Women's Beach Sprint
Jett Blue- Thirroul- 3rd U15 Short Board Riding
Belinda Stevens- North Wollongong - 3rd in 40-44years Female Beach Sprint
Stephen De Lorenzo - Wollongong City - 2nd 65-69years 2km Swim
Stuart MacKay- Wollongong City - 2nd 45-49years 2km Swim
Isabella Evans, Zoe Hope, Nick Aivaliotis, Luke Drewson- Wollongong City - 1st- U17 Mixed Beach Relay
Isabella Evans- Wollongong City - 3rd U17 Female Beach Sprint
Luke Drewson - Wollongong City - 3rd U17 Male Sprint
Nicholas Aivaliotis- Wollongong City - 1st U17 Male Sprint
Stuart Mackay, Ben Squires, Andrew Wood- Wollongong City - 3rd 130years Male Taplin
Michael Yatras- Wollongong City - 2nd 35-39years Male Beach Flags
Ben Squires, Louis Whant, Trent Lawrence- Wollongong City - 2nd 130years Male Board Relay
Stephen De Lorenzo, Trent Lawrence, Stuart MacKay- Wollongong City - 3rd 170years Male Surf Teams
Ben Squiers, Louis Whant- Wollongong City - 2nd 45-49years Male Board Rescue
Ben Squires- Wollongong City - 1st 45-49years Male Ironman, 2nd 45-49years Male Ski Ski Race, 2nd 45-49years Male Board Race
Callan Malcolm, Rory Lindsay-Cowan, Monique Gray, Kiah Evans- Wollongong City - 3rd U15 Mixed Beach Relay
Blake Plummer, Rory Lindsay-Cowan, Isaac Malcom, Callan Malcolm- Wollongong City - 3rd U15 Male Beach Relay
Darcy Stepanovski- Wollongong City - 2nd U14 Male Surf Race, 3rd U14 Male Board Race
Tayah Anderson, Lucy Richardson, Kiah Evans, Lexi Yatras- Wollongong City - 3rd U14 Female Beach Relay
Simon Rocchi- Port Kembla- 3rd 30-34years 2km Beach Run
Kaye Norris- Windang- 1st 55-59years Female Beach Flags
A special mention to Bulli's Men's Open Boat Crew, Heath Mercer, Dean Roberts, Fraser Worthington, Kyle Mercer and sweep, Shane Geloven, who won gold in the Open Male Surf Boat at the championships. The crew are the only Open's Men's Surf Boat Crew in history to win 5 titles in total and the 2nd Open Men's Surf Boat Crew to win 4 consecutive titles.
Every effort has been made to ensure that the results shared are inclusive of all Illawarra clubs and members competing, however as this carnival is not run by Illawarra, it is hard to keep track of every event. If you want us to share your results, please send them through to office@slsillawarra.com.au . Thanks for understanding.
Upcoming Surf Sports Events
IRB racing season is about to kick off with the 2025 Sharkskin NSW IRB Premiership. IRB rounds are held as below.
Premiership Round 1; Ocean Beach SLSC Central Coast 3 - 4 May 2025
Premiership Round 2; Fingal Beach SLSC Hunter 17 - 18 May 2025
Premiership Round 3; Avoca Beach SLSC Central Coast 31 May - 1 June 2025
Premiership Round 4; Warilla-Barrack Point SLSC South Coast 14 - 15 June 2025
State Championships Cape Hawke Cape Hawke SLSC Lower North Coast 27 – 29 June 2025
Best of luck to our clubs and members from the Illawarra who are competing.
SLSI Awards of Excellence (AOE)
Our Awards of Excellence tickets and nominations are live, get ready for a night of celebration! The awards are being held on Friday the 20th of June at City Beach Function Centre in Wollongong.
The awards night allows an opportunity for all our members across our clubs to come together and celebrate the hard work and dedication of our members for another season.
Nominations are now open, so if you know someone from your club who has gone above and beyond and deserves to be recognised, check out Circular 2420 on our website, which contains further information regarding nominations.
If you are interested in being on the nominations judging panel, more information can be found in Circular 2421.
Tickets for the evening can be purchased at the following link; 2025 SLSI AOE Tickets
If you have any questions, please reach out to Ash in the office on 4228 3884 or office@slsillawarra.com.au
Junior Lifesavers of the Year (JLOTY) are off to camp
Our 2025 JLOTY Nate and Sienna from Helensburgh-Stanwell Park attended the SLSNSW JLOTY camp with the other JLOTY from other surf lifesaving branches from the 15th-17th of April.
The camp gives the opportunity for our young members to meet with other members from clubs all over NSW and learn more about the surf lifesaving movement.
We are looking forward to hearing about when Nate and Sienna attend our Awards of Excellence and share with us how they enjoyed their time at camp.
Life Members of Surf Life Saving NSW (SLSNSW) honoured at SLSNSW State Championships
Recently at the 2025 NSW Championships at Queenscliff SLSC, SLSNSW Life Members present were given numbered peaked caps as a gesture of appreciation and recognition, from SLSNSW.
Those NSW Life Members (pictured below) present from Illawarra were John Masters #216, John Meehan OAM #148, Robert 'Bobo' White #213 and Don McAlister #265.
Alyssa Norris name Wollongong Local Woman of the Year
Congratulations to Alyssa Norris who has been named 2025 Wollongong Local Woman of the Year.
Alyssa is a member of Windang SLSC and is a passionate and dedicated member of surf lifesaving. She is the club's Vice Captain and is a fabulous role model for surf lifesavers. Alyssa has also formed meaningful partnerships with local charities including KidsWish, teaching important beach safety skills in an interactive environment, to local children living with a disability
Alyssa also volunteers her time at branch level, where she has taken photos at carnivals and helped at other events across the season. Alyssa recently attended SLSNSW Emerging Leaders Program. Well done Alyssa!
Nominations for Office
Surf Life Saving Illawarra is overseen by a volunteer board of eight directors.
A General Election is held annually to allow for nominations for directors' positions. This year's Election will be held on Tuesday the 27th of May 2025 at Surfhouse, our office in Wollongong.
Each director’s term is two years, resulting in four director positions being called for nominations each year. This year we are calling for nominations for the position of President, Director of Finance, Director of Education and Director of Surf Sports.
More information and the form to nominate can be found in the following circular; SLSI Office Nominations. Nominations close at 5pm on Sunday the 27th April.
If you want to hear from our current Directors and learn more about what their role involves, visit our facebook page, where Jessie, our Director of Finance and Kevin our Director of Surf Sports, share what is involved in their roles and what they love about volunteering for surf lifesaving.
Staff Leave and Surfhouse closure over Easter Holidays
Ash will be on leave from Friday the 18th of April and will return to work on Monday the 28th of April. The office will be open on Tuesday 22 April only during this time with Megs in the office.
The office email will not be monitored during this time, thanks for your patience.
NEWSLETTERS
Does your club have any news, training dates or just anything you would like to share. Send it through to the SLSI branch office and we will put it in the newsletter.
