2012 World Champion Club!!!

After 6 days of grueling competition, BMD Northcliffe have come out on top of the World at Rescue 2012 in Adelaide. It was only on the final day of competition that BMD Northcliffe claimed the lead for the first time after Italian club Rane Rosse Aqvasport and German Club DLRG Halle-Saalekreis dominated in the pool events. BMD Northcliffe were in 4th after the pool events with Kristyl Smith claiming silver in the Open Female 200m Obs, Andy McMillan Bronze in the Open Male. Our 4 x 50m Obs teams both medaled with our girls taking silver and our boys bronze.  Some valuable points were also earned by both individuals and teams making A & B Finals. In the Youth Competition, Eliza Smith claimed a gold and a world record in the U20 200m Obs.

Day 1 of the Ocean Competition saw BMD Northcliffe drawing back the massive lead that the two European clubs had amassed with Dev Lahey and Shannon Eckstein taking gold & silver in the Open Male Surf Race and Kristyl Smith & Courtney Hancock claiming gold & bronze. In the Youth Competition, Eliza Smith continued her winning form claiming gold in the U20 Female Surf Race while her boyfriend Daniel Booth claimed silver in the Male Surf Race.

On day 2 of Ocean Competition both our Open Male & Female Rescue Tube Rescue teams claimed silver narrowly missing gold. Cory Hill claimed silver in a hot field of ski paddlers. Shannon Eckstein cruised to victory in the Open Male Board Race while Kristyl Smith claimed another gold in the Open Female Board being joined on the daice this time by Harriet Brown in 3rd place. Special mention to our beach relay teams who headed to Glenelg for the twilight beach events after a full day of competition at Christies Beach. Ours boys finished 5th and our girls 9th - a valuable 21 points!  

On the final day, BMD Northcliffe had clawed their way back to just a 110 point deficit with Board Rescue, Ironperson and Taplin finals remaining. Max Beattie & Mitch Miller powered home to claim victory in the Open Male Board Rescue while our female teams went 1, 2 with the Hancock sisters claiming gold and Kristyl & Harriet claiming silver. Shannon claimed his 4th World Ironman crown with Mitch Miller taking silver and Courtney Hancock finished with bronze in the Ironwoman. In the Male Taplin Relay BMD Northcliffe claimed silver in a 3 way sprint finish and our girls also claimed silver. Our depth was on display in the Taplins with our B Teams in both the male and female finishing in 4th. In Youth competition Jake Nicholson & Eliza Smith claimed bronze in their U20 Ironperson events and our boys fished 3rd in the Taplin Relay.

Overall, it was BMD Northcliffe in 1st on 775, 93 points ahead of Rane Rosse Aqvasport in 2nd and DLRG Halle-Saalekreis holding on for 3rd. In the Ocean Pointscore the margin for far greater with BMD Northcliffe 338 points ahead of Mooloolaba with Kurrawa in 3rd. Special mention to our U20s who finished 3rd Overall and 3rd in the Ocean Competition with only 6 competitors!

For a full list of BMD Northcliffe Results Click Here.  

BMD Northcliffe Kiwi's Triumph over Aussies

The New Zealand Black Fins have delivered a massive upset to defeat the Australian Team by 80 points at the World Surf Life Saving Championships in Adelaide. The Kiwi's had a convincing lead after the pool events but continued their good form in the ocean, easily holding off the Aussies for the first time in 14 years. The New Zealand Team included BMD Northcliffe members Kevin Morrison, Max Beattie & Andy McMillan who all contributed greatly to the teams success.

Australian Team Captain, Shannon Eckstein, did his best to peg bag the points in the ocean with dominant performances to win the Ironman, Ski Race, Board Race & Surf Race. Others to taste individual success were Miranda Bell claiming the Open Female Surf Race and Kristyl Smith the Open Female Board Race.

The Australian U20 Team, coached by BMD Northcliffe Head Coach Barry Newman, turned the tables on New Zealand claiming victory over the Kiwi's in the Youth Competition by 70 points. Standout BMD Northcliffe performers were BMD Northcliffe's Stefaan Demopoulos (AUS) who claimed 5 gold and a silver and Cory Taylor (NZ) who claimed 5 gold, a silver and a bronze.

A small contingent of BMD Northcliffe Masters made the trip to Adelaide to compete in the World Masters Championships. Standout performers were Stephen Fry with 6 Gold and a silver and Anna Ballara with 3 gold, 4 silver and a bronze.

For a full list of BMD Northcliffe's International Teams and Masters Competition Results, Click here.

Gold Coast 600 - thrills & spills

Shannon Eckstein showed why he should stick to the surf after a test run with Mark Winterbottom before the start of last weekend's Gold Coast 600. The car was left with a few bumps and bruises but luckily no-one was hurt and Shannon can concentrate on what he does best - speed on the sand and in the ocean......



Shannon also teamed up with fellow Kellogg's Nutri Grain Series members - Bonnie Hancock, Harriett Brown and Mitch Miller for a board session with Mark and co-driver Will Power. Fortunately, no craft was hurt during the training.  

BMD Northcliffe Worlds Rescue 2012 Team

BMD Northcliffe is proud to announce their 20 member team travelling to Adelaide to compete at Rescue 2012. 
Good luck to all our members, captained by five-time Australian and three-time world Ironman champion Shannon Eckstein and 2010 World Iron, Swim and Board champion Kristyl Smith.

Joining them will be:

The men's team will include recent K4 Olympic Gold medallist, Tate Smith; New Zealand London Olympian swimmer, Andrew McMillian and Kiwi National Team members Kevin Morrison and Max Beattie.

2009 World 25km open water silver medallist and recent world record breaker for the English Channel Trent Grimsey.

Kellogg's Nutri-Grain Ironman Cory Hill, who was fourth at this year's Aussies as well as Australian open belt and tube rescue champion Dev Lahey; U19 Ironman champion and KNG Ironman qualifier Mitch Miller; and Townsville-based pool rescue star Stefaan Demopulous.

Joining Smith in the women's team will be 2011 Australian Ironwoman champion Courtney Hancock; her sister KNG Ironwoman Bonnie Hancock and fellow KNG Ironwoman Harriett Brown; World record holder for 200m super lifesaver and world 200m obstacles champion Miranda Bell; Australian rep and pool specialist Christina Ruiz; former Australian Open Ski champion Casey Leo-Litzow; former NZ ironwoman champion Maddy Boon; and fellow pool specialists Ashleigh Adams and Jess McDonnell. 

Several members will also be travelling to Adelaide to contest the U20 and Masters events:
U20 members: Daniel Booth, Jake Nicholson, Matthew Sharp, Corey Taylor, Eliza Smith and Kirsty Waugh.

Masters: Bruce Kolkka, Stephen Fry, Scott Unicomb, Gavin Hill, Paul Blackbeard, Paul Davis, Richard Bedford, Noel Mills, John Gorely, Marg Kyle, Jo Marrable and Anna Ballara.


Congratulations also goes to the following members who will be competing in the International competition.

Australian Team - Shannon Eckstein (captain), Kristyl Smith, Miranda Bell, Christina Ruiz
Australian U20 Team - Stefaan Demopulous
New Zealand Team - Max Beattie, Kevin Morrison, Andrew McMillan
New Zealand U20 Team - Cory Taylor

Tate Smith wins Olympic Gold

BMD Northcliffe congratulates Tate Smith on his efforts of captaining the Australian 'K4some' to its first Olympic team gold with fellow lifesavers David Smith, Murray Stewart and Jacob Clear.
 
Tate has won every major Australian Surf Lifesaving Ski Title and now can add Gold Medal Olympian to his long list of achievements.

He now heads back to the surf, coaching at the clubs ski sessions and training for the upcoming World Rescue Championships.

2012 Australian Pool Rescue Championships

Congratulation to all of our members that competed at the Australian Pool Rescue Championships on the weekend in Adelaide. Despite only having a small contingent, BMD Northcliffe managed to finish 2nd overall, only 19 points behind behind Maroochydore.

Stars of the team were Stefaan Demopoulos (4 gold, 2 silver, 3 Bronze), Lachlan Feather (3 gold, 3 silver, 1 bronze), Christina Ruiz (3 gold, 3 silver) and Stephen Fry (4 gold). A special mention to Miranda Bell who competed for BMD Northcliffe for the first time, winning 1 gold and 5 silvers.Congratulations to our youngest member on the team - Jarrod Shute (under 12s) who claimed 2 bronze medals at his first national competition.

For BMD Northcliffe Medalists, click here.

For a full list of all results, click here.

2012 Australian Champion Club

Sadly, the 2012 Australian Surf Life Saving Championships were marred by tragedy with the loss of one our movement's finest young competitors, Mathew Barclay. Fourteen-year-old Matthew Barclay from Maroochydore disappeared in the surf while taking part in a board race at Kurrawa beach on the first day of competition. In Matthew's honour and at his parent's request, competition resumed at North Kirra two days later. A touching memorial service was held at Kurrawa on the Sunday morning attended by thousands of lifesavers who paid their respects to Mathew. Following the service, competitors returned to North Kirra for the final day of competition. 

BMD Northcliffe dominated the competition, taking out the overall carnival point score by an amazing 154.5 points. Some of the highlights include Shannon Eckstein defending his Australian Open Ironman Championship, exciting narrow victories in both the Open Male Ski & Board Relays and BMD Northcliffe taking both gold and silver in the final event of the competition - The prestigious Open Male Taplin Relay.

Our Masters also claimed a last minute unexpected victory, only taking over the masters point score lead at the conclusion of the board riding events held on Wednesday. This was a great result for our under-strength team with several members unable to compete due to injury and work commitments. 

Click here for BMD Northcliffe's Open Results.

Click here for BMD Northcliffe's Masters Results.

2012 QLD State Champions

BMD Northcliffe Surf Club took out the overall champion club title convincingly at the Crazy Johns QLD State Championships on the weekend despite missing several key team members. The win was not expected with the championships clashing with the Kayak Sprint Nationals, Australian Swimming Trials and the New Zealand Surf Life Saving Championships which reduced the strength of the team. 

Leading the way was Elizabeth Pluimers who claimed 6 gold medals at the titles. Pluimers defended her QLD Open Ironwoman title as well as claiming victory in the single ski, taplin, board relay, ski relay and mixed double ski events. She also added 2 silver medals in the female double ski and the surf teams.

Tate Smith, straight off the plane from gaining an olympic birth at the Kayak Sprint Nationals, was at back at home in the surf, claiming 4 gold medals in the single ski, ski relay, taplin relay and mixed double ski. Also claiming 4 gold was Shannon Eckstein in the restricted surf race, taplin, ski relay and surf teams, and narrowly missing out on victory in the open ironman in an exciting sprint finish with Mooloolaba's Ali Day.

On Friday, our Masters also had a successful carnival claiming the overall QLD masters club title. Tiarne Smith lead the way with an amazing 8 gold and 1 silver medal.

All is looking good for the Australian Championships which begin on Monday 26 March through to Sunday 1 April.

For all the Senior QLD Championship results, click here.

For all the Masters QLD Championships results, click here.

Pluimers Dominates Final Round to Claim Series

Elizabeth Pluimers dominated the final round of the Kellogg's Nutri-Grain Ironwoman Series claiming the race victory along with the overall series title at Noosa Heads on the weekend. 

Liz went in to the final round trailing by 1 point from clubmate Kristyl Smith but dominated the eliminator format winning all 3 races in flat and hot conditions. In the final race, she broke the field with an extraordinary run leg between the swim and board legs. Kristyl Smith finished in 4th but claimed the series runner up title for the 6th time with Courtney Hancock rounding out the top 3 for a BMD Northcliffe Series Trifecta. Also in the top 10 with automatic qualification in to next series were BMD Northcliffe's Harriet Brown in 7th place and Bonnie Hancock in 10th place.

In the mens race, it was a changing of the guard with Shannon Eckstein's brother, Caine, dominating round 6 to also claim the overall series title. Shannon finished in 3rd place overall with Zane Holmes in 5th place.

For Round 6 Results Click Here

For Overall Series Results Click Here

Bonnie's Podium Performance

A big congratulations to Bonnie Hancock for her maiden podium result finishing 2nd  in round 5 of the Kellogg's Nutri-Grain Ironwoman Series at Coolum. It was Bonnie's best performance of an otherwise dissapointing season so far but she used that dissapointment to triumph yesterday. The result also puts her back in to contention for automatic qualification for next season's series. A good result in the final at Noosa will see her back in the top 10. Kristyl Smith was once again on the podium with a 3rd placing after fighting off clubmates Courtney Hancock & Elizabeth Pluimers and Noosa's Jordie Mercer, in a 4 way sprint to the line. Courtney ended up in 5th with Elizabeth in 6th. Kristyl now reclaims the black togs leading the overall series by 1 point in to the final race at Noosa this weekend. 

In the men's race there were more sprint finishes with the top 6 placing being decided in 2 way sprints. Shannon Eckstein was just pipped on the line for 3rd place by his brother Caine and Zane Holmes out-sprinted overall series leader, Ali Day to claim 5th place. It will be a tough ask, but not impossible, for Shannon to defend his series title, currently sitting in 3rd place, 12 points behind Ali. If Shannon could break through for his first win of the series in the final race, Ali finishes outside the top 7 and Shannon's brother, Caine, finishes out of the top 3, Shannon will claim the series.

For full round 5 results click here.

For overall series results click here.

Pluimers Back in Black

It never seemed likely after her dissapointing race at Portsea in Round 2, but Pluimers is back in the black togs after claiming victory in Round 4 of the Kellogg's Nutri-Grain Series in Perth on the weekend. After Courtney bombed out in Newcastle, Kristyl took over the leaders jersey but was unable to consolidate the lead in Round 4 being the marathon format with an 11th place. Courtney Hancock bounced back from her dissapointing result in Newcastle to be back on the podium with a 3rd placing. Kirsty Holmes continued with her recent form to claim another 5th placing, with the always consistent Harriet Brown in 7th. 

In the Men's race, Caine Eckstein was always the red hot favourite for the marathon format and claimed a convinsing 2nd victory of the series. Shannon Eckstein was very happy with his result placing 3rd in his least favourite format and Cory Hill had his first top 10 finish with an 8th place. Shannon now sits in 3rd place overall in the series still in contention.

For a full list of the women's results click here.

For a full list of the men's results click here.

Double Victory in Round 3 - KNG Series

Kristyl Smith & Zane Holmes made it a BMD Northliffe double for Round 3 of the Kellogg's Nutri-Grain Series in Newcastle. Big seas, strong winds and even marine life made for some exciting racing. Kristyl, who hadn't been off the podium so far in the series, climbed to the top for the first time ahead of Elizabeth Pluimers. Kristyl also claimed the overall series lead after Courtney Hancock lost her ski and finished 19th in the first race relegating her back to 3rd place on the leader board behind Kristyl and Elizabeth. Veteran, Kirsty Holmes, demonstrated her experience finishing in 5th, her best result so far for the series with Harriet Brown in 7th. 

In the men's race, Zane Holmes was the lone BMD Northcliffe representative in the final with Shannon Eckstein just missing out with a 9th place after being knocked of his ski several times. Zane went on to claim his first victory of the season and move further up the leader board in the overall series. 

Close examination of the television footage revealed a pilot whale rounding the cans in the final girls race. With a shark attack at nearby Redhead Beach just days before, people were quick to speculate that it was a shark.

Round 4 heads to Western Australia on the 29th January where they'll take on the Marathon format.

For the full women's results from Round 3 click here.

For the full men's results from Round 3 click here.

Courtney Overcomes Portsea Carnage to Claim Second Win

While Portsea didn't live up to its usual reputation for huge seas, it certainly threw up enough to cause some carnage in Round 2 of the Kellogg's Nutri-Grain Ironwoman Series on the weekend.

Race 1 of the double sprint race ran smoothly with Courtney taking it out ahead of clubmates Liz Pluimers and Bonnie Hancock.

Race 2 saw Liz Pluimers take a commanding early lead with a strong first board leg only to be pegged back at the conclusion of the board leg when several competitors pulled down a large wave behind her. Leading in to the final ski leg BMD Northcliffe were looking good with Liz, Courtney and Kristyl Smith in the top 3 until a nasty collision in the shore break saw all 3 lose their craft and relinquish their lead. Kristyl and Courtney managed to catch back up to 3rd & 4th place respectively but for Liz Pluimers, who fared the worse from the earlier collision,  her Portsea curse from last season continued, ending up in 20th.

This dissapointing finish added with her 2nd place in race 1 meant that she ended up in 11th place for the round. Courtney's 1st & 4th gave her the overall Round win to make it two from two in the series and Kristyl Smith finished with another 3rd place. Other BMD Northcliffe athletes to finsh in the top 10 were Bonnie Hancock in 6th and Harriet Brown in 8th.   Courtney now has a comfortable lead in the overall standings with 50 points followed by Kristyl in 2nd with 40 points and Liz Pluimers in 3rd with 32 points.

In the mens race, Shannon Eckstein showed he was re-gaining form, claiming a win in the 3rd and final mens race. A 4th and a 5th placing in the earlier races meant that he was back on the podium for Round 2 with a 2nd placing behind Kurrawa's Ky Hurst. The mens overall pointscore still remains tight with only 5 points seperating the top 6 competitors. Shannon sits in 4th place, 3 points off the lead.

Round 3 heads to Newcastle on the 22 January for the eliminator format. 

Click here for Round 2 - Male Results

Click here for Round 2 - Female Results

Click here for overall Male Standings after Round 2

Click here for overall Female Standings after Round 2

Click here to visit the Surf Ironman Series website

Click here to check out the carnage from the womens race

BMD Northcliffe Trifect in Round 1 KNG Series

BMD Northcliffe Ironwoman, Courtney Hancock, proved any of her doubters wrong when she took out the opening round of the Kellogg's Nutri-Grain Ironwoman Series at Surfers Paradise on the weekend. After claiming the overall series title last season without claiming a race victory, Courtney was quick to prove that she had deserved the crown.

BMD Northcliffe's, Kristyl Smith was the early leader with Courtney and clubmate, Elizabeth Pluimers mid-field after the opening board leg. Both Courtney and Elizabeth made up ground in the run and swim legs and were neck and neck in the final ski leg but Courtney had the goods edging away from Elizabeth in the closing stages. Kristyl Smith held on for 3rd place making it a BMD Northcliffe trifecta. BMD Northcliffe's, Harriet Brown, finished in 7th place with Kirsty Holmes in 15th and Bonnie Hancock in 17th.

In the mens race, BMD Northcliffe's Shannon Eckstein found himself in unfamiliar teritory turning the M shape board flag in equal last. Shannon clawed his way back to mid-field but it just wasn't his day, finishing 9th. Shannon's brother, Caine, was the eventual race winner on the day proving he is the enduro king. BMD Northcliffe's, Zane Holmes, ended up in 11th place with Cory Hill & Tanyn Lyndon finishing 14th & 15th respectively.

Round 2 heads to Portsea in Victoria which is reknown for dishing up big swells making for exciting racing in the 'Triple Sprint' format.

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