Newport Surf Life Saving Club is 110 years old! To commemorate our big birthday and to record the club’s recent achievements, an addendum to Newport’s Centenary history book has been produced. Written and edited by club Life Member, Michael King, the book covers all aspects of Newport surf club’s recent past. If you missed the book launch on 19 October, you can purchase for $30:
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- at Nippers on a Sunday morning;
- at After 5s on a Friday or Sunday; and
- we will also have it available online soon.
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Here are a few interesting facts from the new book:
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- In the last decade Newport’s Chief Instructors and trainers have qualified seven hundred and seventy four people through their Bronze Medallion, four hundred and seventy four nippers through their Surf Rescue Certificate, hundreds more extra awards and countless proficiencies. 117,518 patrol hours were recorded. In 2008 the club had twelve Australian Champions after one hundred years, at the end of the 2019 Aussies we had eighty two. In 2008/09 Newport had their first two NSW reps in twenty five years, by 2019 thirty four Newport members had represented NSW in various competitions and seventeen in various Australian teams.
- The club has achieved amazing goals in surfsports, great success at NSW and Australian Championships and winning the Sydney Northern Beaches Branch Championship pointscore in 2018-19 for the sixth season running. Even more importantly Newport backed that up with two SLSSNB Most Outstanding Club Lifesaving awards and in 2018-19 winning the SLSSNB Patrol Assessment- a fantastic double of competition and lifesaving excellence.
- The effect on Newport SLSC of the creation of the Newport Kinghorn Surf Racing Academy in 2012/13 cannot be understated. In 2008, the pointscore at championship events was for ‘those big clubs’. By 2014 we won the first of six consecutive SNB Branch and NSW Championship pointscores and in 2015, unbelievably, second at Aussies. As well as improving traditional competition areas, the Academy is supporting the growth of First Aid, Lifesaving, Patrol and IRB competition, complementing the quality of our beach patrols.
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