AusLeisure

Rock and pop will meet surf and sand when Sydney's Newport Beach hosts a revamped Interstate Surf Life Saving Championships as of Friday (23rd January).

The new format will see all state teams enter the beach arena to anthems of their choice, launching an eight-hour program of 46 back to back races across youth and open age groups. This year’s schedule will feature short-course, high energy racing to enhance spectator engagement.

In a first for surf sports, this year’s Interstate Championships will be the first national event to be live streamed. Surf Life Saving Australia (SLSA) will also provide a live blog of results on its website throughout the day.

The cream of Australia’s surf sports athletes will be competing in the annual event, including Ironman and Ironwoman champions and current Olympians.

In a sign of loyalty, a number of athletes have elected to compete for their State of Origin this year, as opposed to the state where their current club is located. This allows athletes to compete for the home state of their original club where they became a lifesaver.

SLSA President Graham Ford stated “the Interstate Championships hold a special place on the surf sports calendar and our athletes are a very passionate group of competitors. They never forget where they came from and that is reflected in this year’s team line-ups.

Several innovations have been introduced to this year’s event to further improve the spectator experience. All races will start and finish on the sand and feature soft sand sprints, while a power play concept will add a new dynamic to the points scoring system. Each youth and open team will have the opportunity to nominate a power play event which will be worth double points towards their overall tally.

The Interstate Champions will be the team with highest cumulative points across the open and youth events.

The Interstate Championships are the first of four combined point score events, including the Surfboat, Pool and IRB Championships which make up the Alan B Whelpton Perpetual Shield.

A Live Stream and results of the Interstate Championships will be available on the SLSA website at sls.com.au

Image courtesy of Surf Life Saving Australia.

25th January 2011 - QUEENSLAND END NSW DOMINANCE AT INTERSTATE CHAMPIONSHIPS

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