Challenging conditions for state titles

ROUND two of the Bodyboarding Victoria state titles lived up to its hype, with plenty of waves and some great riding on display last weekend.

While entry numbers may have been down slightly on the previous year (attributed, in part, to the current cost of living), organisers were thrilled with the standard of competition and the support from locals.

“Day one on Saturday saw some great rides at Logans despite the conditions, which weren’t ideal,” Adams Williams, Bodyboarding Victoria committee member said.

“The wind direction can really affect conditions and Saturday’s south-easterly really hit the face of the waves making it tough for competitors.

“Because of that, we changed to the Flume for Sunday’s program which also provided plenty of challenges in the water but there was some really good rides and some great scores.”

Williams believes the current cost of living, including fuel prices, may have resulted in slightly fewer entries than last year, but he is confident the sport will continue to grow.

“Several of our competitors travelled from as far as Melbourne and that can be a costly exercise in itself,” he said.

“But overall we were very happy with entries and crowd numbers over both days; it was great to see so many locals and visitors watching from the beach.”

Some of the sport’s leading competitors took to the water across seven divisions, the youngest in their early teens, through to ‘Grand Masters’ in their late 40s.

Results from the competition were as follows:

Juniors (under 18) – 1st Lucas Byford, 2nd River Gray.

Men’s (18-35) – David Warren.

Masters – 1st Luke Whearty, 2nd Ryan Jucker, 3rd Trent Conn, 4th Shane Britten.

Grand Masters – 1st Nathan Clark, 2nd Kyle Anderson, 3rd Benjamin Lee Kong, 4th Ryan Lindsey, 5th Shane Britten.

Open men’s – 1st Chris Watson, 2nd Nathan Clark, 3rd David Warren, 4th Luke Whearty.

Dropknee – 1st Dane Pope, 2nd Adam Williams.

Open women’s – 1st Lyndall Jucker, 2nd Kylie Palmer.