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Maroubra Beach Hosts Surfing Cup for Lifeguards across NSW

35 Lifeguards from seven NSW Councils are set for the Lifeguard Surfers Cup happening on 12 April 2019 at Maroubra Beach.

There is no better way to end a successful season for our dear lifeguards than by having a friendly yet fierce surfing competition at the beautiful waters of Maroubra Beach.

The Randwick City Council has partnered with the Surfing NSW to create this inaugural surfing competition that will serve as an opportunity for networking and skills building for all the hardworking lifeguards across seven NSW Councils.

The event allows all competitors to share some of their amazing and exceptional experiences from the busy spring and summer seasons whilst showing off to everyone their great surfing skills.

What to Expect in Lifeguard Surfers Cup?

Participants of the Lifeguard Surfers Cup will consist of teams of five surfers each from Randwick, Waverley, Northern Beaches, Central Coast, Lake Macquarie, and Wollongong Councils.

They will compete in a tag-based format. This means that all surfers must begin on the beach, tag their teammate and paddle out. By having one wave from each of the five surfers will contribute to the team’s overall score.

Aside from claiming bragging rights, winners of the Surfers Cup will receive a brand new jet ski rescue sled given by Pro Guarding.

With a little friendly rivalry going on with some neighbouring lifeguards, this competition surely is going to be an exciting one!

Lifeguard
Photo credit: CCO Public Domain/ Marzena7/ Pixabay

The Lifeguard Surfers Cup will commence at 8:00 a.m. at the Maroubra Beach. The organizers of the event are expecting a large number of visitors and spectators coming over to witness this very first lifeguard surfing competition. They highly encourage everyone to come early to show support for all the teams competing.

Click here for more details about this upcoming lifeguard surfing competition.

Read: South Maroubra Ocean Challenge: What Happens During This Ocean Swimming Competition?

Be a Volunteer for the Clean It Up Maroubra Beach Drive

Help keep Maroubra Beach clean by being a volunteer at the Clean It Up Maroubra Beach drive this 14 April 2019.

After the success of the first Clean It Up Maroubra Beach drive in February 2019, comes another round of cleanup drive this April.

Led by the Maroubra Community group, the cleanup drive is set to start from 8:30 a.m. until 11:00 a.m. The meet point for all volunteers is on the grass area opposite of the Marini Cafe.

All volunteers are requested to come by 8:15 a.m. at the meet up point for instructions and briefing. Please be advised that volunteers who are under 18 years old must be supervised by an adult throughout the entire duration of the cleanup.

Clean It Up
Photo credit: Clean It Up Maroubra Beach/ Facebook

What To Bring

Everyone is encouraged to join this clean up event at the Maroubra Beach. If you are interested in being a volunteer, make sure to head over to the designated meeting place at the exact call time, wearing a navy blue shirt. Please make sure to bring your own buckets and gloves. Also, keep in mind that plastic bags are not allowed at this Clean It Up event.

For your convenience, please wear a hat and put on a decent amount of sunscreen before heading out under the sun to collect some rubbish. You may also bring your own water bottle in case you feel thirsty whilst the cleanup drive is ongoing.

After collecting and segregating all rubbish found at the Maroubra Beach, a little get together will be held under the covered area of the designated meeting place across Marini Cafe.

Read: Upcoming Events In and Around Maroubra

Here are some photos from the Clean It Up Maroubra Beach drive last February 2019:

Clean It Up Volunteers
Volunteers for the cleanup drive
Photo credit: Maroubra Community/ Facebook
Clean It Up
Rubbish collected at the Maroubra Beach
Photo credit: Maroubra Community/ Facebook
Clean It Up
Segregating all rubbish collected from the cleanup
Photo credit: Maroubra Community/ Facebook

What are you waiting for? Save the date and be part of the second Clean It Up Maroubra Beach drive! Feel free to come with your best mates too.If you are active on social media, make sure to use the hashtag “#cleanitupmaroubra” on all your posts.

Read: What’s On at Maroubra, NSW

Maroubra Ambulance Station Might Be Downgraded as PRP

Photo Credit: TBIT/Pixabay

The Maroubra Ambulance Station located on Mons Avenue might be downgraded to a Paramedic Response Point (PRP) as plans to build an ambulance superstation in Randwick have been revealed. NSW Health said that this centralised facility should improve the response time of its emergency units.

The centralised superstation will be built at the corner of Darley Road and King Street near the TAFE NSW. Currently, this site is being used a carpark, but it’s location is deemed ideal for the superstation since it is near and accessible to major roads such as Anzac Parade and Alison Road.

Read: South Marouba Ocean Challenge: What Happens During This Ocean Swimming Competition?

Once this is in place, paramedics formerly stationed at the ambulance services in Maroubra, as well as Bondi and Mascot, will have to report to the superstation in Randwick as a PRP. Their facilities will become a hub where paramedics from the superstation could be deployed on demand during their shifts.

Photo Credit: NSW Ambulance/Facebook

Health Services Union NSW Secretary Gerard Hayes, however, opposes the plan for the superstation, citing that this will “blow out” the response time.

Mr Hayes said that there is a larger network to cover in a centralised system and paramedics may meet traffic and congestion, particularly in the south east districts, when every second counts during emergencies.

Read: Upcoming Events In and Around Maroubra

The Maroubra Ambulance Station averages a response time of 6.9 minutes in most urgent cases, beating the 10-minute target time. Despite Mr Hayes’ observation, NSW Health believes this can still be improved with the completion of the Randwick superstation.

South Maroubra Ocean Challenge: What Happens During This Ocean Swimming Competition?

The South Maroubra Ocean Challenge is a new event for those living in Sydney’s eastern suburbs and the Southside. First mounted in 2017, this is an open beach swimming competition that does not just bring out people’s competitive side since the event also includes a barbecue party, a bar, and live entertainment.

Hosted by the South Maroubra Surf Life Saving Club (SLSC), the South Marouba Ocean Challenge is divided into 500 metre, one kilometre and 2.5 kilometre lapses.

The 500-metre swim comprises a short rectangle course off the beach. The one-kilometre lapse follows the same rectangle course but it’s stretched further to the south while swimming parallel to the beach.

The 2.5-kilometre course, on the other hand, requires swimmers to take a sharp left turn up north in the water before swimming back to the south and returning to the beach. This category is more ideal for the physically fit and strong risk-takers.

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A minimum age requirement is imposed as kids under nine years old will not be allowed to compete. Swimmers below 18 years old, on the other hand, have to submit a consent form with their parents’ name and contact details to join.  

Photo Credit: Kateoloan/Instagram

Ocean swimming is growing in popularity among swim clubs in Australia than pool swimming because there’s more challenge to the competitions. Swimmers need to grapple with the tide, the wide, the height of the surf and the surrounding sea life while in the water, which doesn’t come with pool swimming.

Swimmers also learn better techniques from ocean swimming competitions since there are no skill limitations. They could be in the water alongside Olympians or first-timers in just their swim caps, goggles, and basic swimsuit.

Read: Top-Rated Restaurants In Maroubra

The host of the ocean challenge has the responsibility to ensure the safety of the swimmers based on rules of open water swimming from the Fédération Internationale De Natation (FINA, or International Swimming Federation).

Apart from requiring competitors to swim around the buoy online, South Maroubra Ocean Challenge swimmers aren’t allowed to wear wetsuits unless the water temperature is below 18 degrees.

South Maroubra SLSC mounts the swimming competition every February. The contest, however, won’t run for 2019.