Kurrawa champs defending surf turf

GOLDEN girl Melissa Howard will be chasing a dream when the open-age Australian Surf Life Saving Championships begin on her home beach at Kurrawa today.

Howard and her clubmates Hayley Bateup and Ky Hurst are ready to lead the way in the surf and on the sand after the death of Queenscliff ironman Saxon Bird in last year’s titles.

Inspired by the efforts of Simon Harris after he claimed his seventh Australian beach flag title last year, Howard is determined to etch her name alongside the former Northcliffe champion.

But first the 24-year-old has her sights set on bringing Queenscliff flyer Laura Shorter’s two-year reign in the sprint to an end.

“I would love to take out a sprint,” revealed a determined Howard.

“In my second year of under-16s I won the sprint as an age champion but to get open title … that would be great.”

While winning the open-age sprint title remains a dream, the former Mollymook (NSW) star has left her stamp on the flags events, winning six of the past seven titles.

Standing in her way this week is a hot field, including Kiwi champion and housemate Chanel Hickman.

But Howard, whose partner Paul Cracroft-Wilson is tipped to take Harris’s mantle in the men’s competition, said her biggest challenge at Kurrawa is the pressure that had come with her success.

“You just have to turn and get to the flag and whatever happens in between happens,” said Howard, who was beaten by Hickman at the recent NZ and Queensland titles.

“It’s a lot of pressure trying to stay on top. You have the nerves of racing and then the pressure built up on you as well and we come down to train here every day.”

For Hurst and Bateup, the sights and the atmosphere that comes with the national titles make it the best time of the year.

According to four-time ironman champion Hurst, who will fight a fierce battle with three-time winner Shannon Eckstein, dual reigning champ Pierce Leonard and a host of other stars, the conditions this week will make for an interesting spectacle.

“I had a look at the swell and it was forecast to pick up,” Hurst said of the conditions tipped to exceed a metre.

“But I don’t think it’s going to come. I think we’re going to have perfect conditions for the rest of the week.

“It’s going to make for exciting racing and just to see more than 7500 competitors on the beach again, I think it’s going to be a blast.”

Source: Gold Coast Bulletin