WARRNAMBOOL Surf Life Saving Club president Michael Owen says the club’s best chances of a medal at the state championships are in the board events.
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The club will host the two-day Victorian Junior Life Saving Championships this weekend for the first time since 2007.
More than 1200 athletes from 34 Victorian clubs will contest the annual championships in a variety of events including boards, surf races, beach sprint and beach flags.
Owen said 60 Warrnam-bool nippers would compete.
He said individuals could enter the event, while teams had to qualify through regional competitions.
“Our board teams are fairly strong,” he said.
“We have been fairly successful in those areas and have done a lot of work with Stephen Kerr, the current open state champion in board.
“We have a lot of kids training regularly, five times a week.”
Owen said hosting the championships, which cater for under eights up to under 14s, was a coup for the south-west.
“We haven’t hosted them for a number of years so it’s exciting for the club,” he said.
“It’s good promotion for our club with life saving promoted in the town.
“Most of the time we travel to Geelong or Melbourne so it’s good to have it locally.
“It’s a big thing for the kids competing. They spend a lot of time in the car to go to events or we have a bus, so it’s good to have an event at home.”
The competition area runs from the surf club to the end of McGennan car park.
Events will start at 9am tomorrow and Sunday and run until 4pm both days.