Hardworking Hamish Bowles wins WA’s top nipper award

Dedicated Albany teenager Hamish Bowles has been rewarded for his outstanding achievements, named the 2020 Surf Life Saving WA Nipper of the Year on Saturday. The award is presented to a competitor in the under-10 to under-13 age bracket to recognise their outstanding achievements in the areas of individual safety, surf awareness, lifesaving and surf sports skills within the Woodside Nipper Program. Each club in WA, including the major metropolitan ones, nominates one nipper to be in the running for the major award. Hamish, 13, is a hardworking member of the Albany Surf Life Saving Club and beat a field of 25 other nipper club recipients to claim the top prize, part of the inaugural Nipper and Youth Awards that were announced in a live video on Facebook. He said participating in surf lifesaving had been a great way to spend time with his friends and had ambitions to become a life-saver one day. “I was not really expecting to win,” Hamish said. “In the mornings I help out with club set-up and I love getting out there in the water with a board. “I definitely want to get to become a lifesaver and do my bronze medallion.” Hamish said his favourite event was board rescue, trains twice a week and then competes on weekends pre-COVID-19. A Year 8 student at North Albany Senior High School, Hamish is a keen sportsman who enjoys swimming and also plays football. “Surf lifesaving is just great fun, especially hanging out with my mates,” he said. “A big thanks to my age group manager Greg Freebury, nipper co-ordinator Kristin Ellery, all the other clubs and competitors and of course my parents.” Roy McEwan from Denmark Surf Life Saving Club was a Nipper Club Achiever. Hamish is the youngest of three siblings, who were all nominated in the awards. Molly Bowles was a Youth of the Year (under-14 to under-17) nominee and Angus Bowles was one of five finalists in the Under-15 Lifesaver of the Year. Brodie Green was the DSLSC nomination in the Youth award.