Australian Teams Announced

Congratulations to Shannon Eckstein and Kristyl Smith who have just been named in the Australian Team to compete in Alexandria, Egypt, at the World Surf Life Saving Championships to be held later this year. Shannon Eckstein has also been given the honour of captaining the team.

Notable exclusions from the Australian team were BMD Northcliffe's Dev Lahey and Elizabeth Pluimers who both performed very well at the recent Australian Pool Rescue Championships.

Other BMD Members that have been selected to compete for their countries at the championships include Daniel Moodie & Kevin Morrison (New Zealand), Flora Manciet, Jon Desperges and Julien Lalanne (France).

Congratulations also to Bonnie Hancock, Michael Booth & Harriet Brown who made the Australian Under 21 Development Team who will be heading to Japan later in the year. BMD Northcliffe's Daniel Norton-Smith was also named the coach of the Under 21 team. BMD Northcliffe's Lachlan Feather also made the Australian Under 21 Development Team heading to New Zealand to compete in a Pool Rescue Competition in October.

Well Done Everyone!

2010 Australian Pool Rescue Championships

BMD Northcliffe Surf Club took out the overall pointscore at the recent Australian Pool Rescue Championships held in Melbourne on 5 & 6 June, 2010.

Impressive performances from Dev Lahey, Kristyl Smith, Elizabeth Pluimers and young guns Lachlan Feather and Jordan Harrison helped seal the unexpected victory with only a small team travelling down to Melbourne for the event.

Congratulations to all of our members who braved the cold of an outdoor pool in Melbourne in June!

For all of the results from the 2010 Australian Pool Rescue Championships click here.

2010 Clubs QLD Achievement Awards

BMD Northcliffe Surf Life Saving Supporters Club was named QLD's Best Surf Life Saving Supporters Club for the 3rd time in a row at the recent Clubs QLD Achievement Awards.

We also took out Best Club on the Gold Coast for the first time.

Well done to all the Management and staff for this fantastic achiement!

OUR VICTORIOUS MASTERS TAKE THE CROWN AGAIN!!!

The BMD Northcliffe Masters dominated competition in testing conditions at the 2010 Australian Championships winning the overall champion club title by over 100 points! It was BMD Northcliffe's 14th win from the past 16 championships - A very impressive record.

Tiarne Smith, living up to the "Smith Family" reputation, was the stand out performer in her debut as a Master, claiming 6 Gold and 2 Silver Medals. Gavin Hill and Stephen Fry both won two gold each.

For all BMD Northcliffe Masters Results click here.

For more information on the Australian Surf Life Saving Championships go the Aussies Website here.

KELLOGG'S NUTRI-GRAIN SERIES FINAL

Shannon Eckstein continued his domination of the Kellogg's Nutri-Grain Ironman Series with a thrilling sprint finish victory in Round 5 at North Cronulla on the weekend. The race win secured the overall series crown for the 5th time with an impressive 4 wins from 5 starts this season. Club mate, Nathan Smith, who will retire from Ironman Competition at the end of the season, had a great race placing 4th with Pierce Leonard in 7th.

In the women's race, Elizabeth Pluimers claimed her second win of the series in a BMD Northcliffe trifecta with Kristyl Smith in 2nd place and Courtney Hancock in 3rd. Unfortunately the win wasn't enough to claim the overall series pointscore, finishing in 2nd behind Mooloolaba's Alicia Marriott.




Overall Series Pointscore:

Male
1st - Shannon Eckstein
7th - Nathan Smith
8th - Pierce Leonard

Female
2nd - Elizabeth Pluimers
4th - Kristyl Smith
6th - Courtney Hancock

For all the series results in full click here.


Photos courtesy of Harvie Allison Photography

Kellogg's Nutri-Grain Series

After 4 rounds of the Kellogg's Nutri-Grain Series completed, Shannon Eckstein looks set to defend his Kellogg's Nutri-Grain Ironman Series title. Shannon won the opening two rounds at Kurrawa, placed 2nd in Round 3 and then claimed victory once again in Round 4 in big surf at Alexandra Headlands. Shannon sits on top of the leader board 6 points clear of his nearest rival.

In the women's field, Kristyl Smith took the overall lead after round 3 where she claimed her first race win of the series. Unfortunately her reign at the top of the table was short lived after losing her ski in the final leg of Round 4 and finished in 18th place. Clubmate, Elizabeth Pluimers, claimed victory in Round 4 for her first race win of the series. Elizabeth is the highest ranked BMD Northcliffe in 4th place with Courtney in 5th and Kristyl now relegated to 6th place.


The 5th and final round, the "eliminator", will be held at North Cronulla on Sunday 21 February with double points on offer.

BMD Northcliffe Athletes Progressive pointscore (after 4 rounds)

Male
1st Shannon Eckstein
7th Pierce Leonard
8th Nathan Smith
11th Cory Hill

16th Daniel Moodie

21st Cameron Gordon (wild card)

Female
4th Elizabeth Pluimers
5th Courtney Hancock
6th Kristyl Smith
8th Terri Sullivan
9th Bonnie Hancock
13th Flora Manciet
16th Sheree Merryfull
18th Harriet Brown (wild card)
19th Katie Graham
20th Casey Leo-Litzow (wild card)
21st Jessica Walker (wild card)

For more information on this years Kellogg's Ironman Series click here.

Kellogg's Nutri-Grain Series Trial

Seven more BMD Northcliffe athletes qualified through the Kellogg's Nutri-Grain Ironman Series at the trial held over three grueling rounds at Tugun on the weekend. The top 11 highest point scorers after the three rounds in both male and female earned themselves a birth into the professional ironman series.

In the women's field Flora Manciet was the highest of the BMD Northcliffe girls in 3rd, with Sheree Merryfull in 4th, Bonnie Hancock in 7th, Terri Sullivan in 8th and Katie Graham in 10th. These 5 girls will join the 3 BMD Northcliffe girls that automatically qualified through from last season's series - Kristyl Smith, Elizabeth Pluimers and Courtney Hancock.

In the men's trial, we had two BMD Northcliffe athletes to qualify through for their first ever Kellogg's Nutri-Grain Series with Cory Hill in 6th and "Kiwi" Dan Moodie in 9th. These two youngsters will join automatic qualifiers, Shannon Eckstein, Zane Holmes, Pierce Leonard and Nathan Smith. Unfortunately, after placing 4th in Round 1, veteran Dean Mercer was forced to pull out with a calf injury after the heat of Round 2, leaving his hopes resting on the wild card position into the series being picked by selectors.

After the weekends results, BMD Northcliffe will have a strong representation in the series which kicks off with Round 1 on the Gold Coast, January 16 with 14 of the 34 competitors.

The dates and venues for the series are below.

Round 1 - 16 January 2010 - Kurrawa
Round 2 - 17 January 2010 - Kurrawa
Round 3 - 6 February 2010 - Alexandra Headland
Round 4 - 7 February 2010 - Alexandra Headland
Round 5 - 21 February 2010 - North Cronulla

Click here for series race formats and prize money