Dear Members,
Glorious Easter weather greeted the Fairhaven faithful in a fantastic late season celebration! The club was a hive of activity all weekend with highlights being Pink Patrol, Young Members Drinks and Presentation Night.
In addition, we had 4 members gain their IRB Drivers qualifications in some challenging Easter swell on Sunday and Monday.
Congratulations to Oscar Ablinger, Henry Gleeson, Sam Bray & Will McIntyre.
Presentation Night
Approximately 70 members attended our Annual Presentation night on Easter Sunday where we were able to recognise the great contributions of our members across all aspects of Fairhaven life!
Special mention to Sarah Cohen (President’s Award for Club Service), Will Wright (Best Active Member) and Mark Scotland (Lifesaver of the Year) – prestigious awards for great contributors to our club and the community.
Congratulations and thanks to all award winners for season 2020/21. Great effort!
| President’s Award | Sarah Cohen |
| M & LD Member of the Year | Bron Cohen |
| Trainer of the Year | Oscar Ablinger Saskia Heng |
| Best Active Member | Will Wright |
| Lifesaver of the Year | Mark Scotland |
| Youth Lifesaver of the Year | Jess Miller |
| Outstanding Lifesaving Achievement |
Jack Wynne Bridie O’Callaghan |
| Most Patrol Hours | Mark Scotland |
President’s Award winner Sarah Cohen and Darren West.
Sports Awards
Best Performed Competitor – Open Female:
Mia Hamley
Best Performed Competitor – Open Male:
Gabe Cornwell
Best Performed Competitor – Junior Male:
Arno D’Andrea
Outstanding Sports Achievement:
Darcy Winstanley – U15 Beach Flags – Gold
Club Champion – Open Female:
Chloe Hardman
Club Champion – Open Male:
Gabe Cornwell
Patrol Team Member of the Year
P1: Poppy Morrison & Lexi Louis
P2: Will McIntyre
P3: Oscar Ablinger
P4: Penny Donnan
P6: Jacqui Dreher
P7: Olivia Richards
Special mention to Mark Scotland who completed over 100 hours of volunteer patrol service!
Youth/Senior State Championships, Lorne
20-21st March, 2021
Our team of 11 competitors had a fantastic weekend of racing at Lorne. We had seven beach competitors (four youth, one U19 and one open/masters) and four ocean (one youth, three U17). Conditions were extremely tough with strong south easterly winds and large, messy surf. Unfortunately surf boats were postponed due to the conditions.
The U15 beach flags was an epic battle, in which Darcy Winstanley and Arno D’Andrea worked together to eliminate all of their competition, then battled it out for gold. This included a stunning dead heat, then an incredibly close final run.3\
Our small team achieved some amazing results as follows:
- 2 GOLD medals: Youth men’s beach relay (Arno D’Andrea, Darcy Winstanley, Joel Grigsby and Jeremy Corr) & Darcy U15 beach flags.
- 5 SILVER medals: Arno U15 beach flags and beach sprint, U15 2x1km relay Darcy and Arno, U17 Ollie Pfister 2km run, Gabe and John Cornwell open men’s belt and reel (they are only 15yo).
- 4 BRONZE medals: Mia Hamley U19 flags, U17 men’s surf team (Gabe Cornwell, Oliver Pfister, John Cornwell and Ed Johnstone of Mount Martha who is Ron Johnstone’s grandson), U17 board rescue Ollie and Gabe, 2x1km relay Ollie Pfister and Aidan Corr
- 4th Joel U15 2km, Darcy U15 sprint, Gabe U17 iron, Ollie U17 surf race
- 5th Gabe U17 ski (unlucky falling out at the apex can whilst in the equal lead in very rough conditions)
- 6th Gabe U17 surf race, U17 board relay (Gabe, John, Ollie), U17 taplin (Gabe, Ollie, John)
- 7th Gabe U17 tube race, Aidan U17 beach flags
- 8th Charlie Cornwell U14 iron, Joel U15 beach flags
- 9th Owen Richards Open flags (progressing through 6 rounds even though is a masters athlete!)
- 10th Jeremy Corr U14 beach flags
Congratulations to the whole team. We are lucky to have such a great bunch of people who are all keen to advance sport at the club, each having coached nippers last season. A huge thanks to Cutch who was Area Referee for beach. I was Area Referee for youth men. Thanks to James and Liz for helping with gear and co-ordinating the team.
Chloe Hardman
VP Sports
Pink Patrol/ Barwon Water Sponsorship
Finally, at about the 5th attempt, our Pink Patrol was blessed with some good weather! Approximately 20 of Fairhaven’s committed female lifesavers patrolled our beach on Good Friday in perfect conditions.
We wish to thank Barwon Water for their generous sponsorship of Fairhaven SLSC as part of their Equipment Grant program of clubs on the Surf Coast. With that funding, we were able to purchase 2 new rescue boards which the Pink Patrol put to good use. Thanks Barwon Water!
We have 2 more Patrol weekends prior to the official conclusion of a memorable 2020/21 season.
Many thanks to all our members who support the club in a variety of ways and particular thanks to our Active members who are there every weekend – rain, hail or shine.
Season 2021/22 is closer than you think!
Best wishes,
Darren West
President – Fairhaven SLSC
