Nipper brings gold back to his club

Fergus Martin has brought Albany Surf Life Saving Club its first gold medal at the Junior State Championships in more than a decade after he took out the under-13 board race at Trigg earlier this month.

Fergus was among 15 ASLSC nippers who made the journey to Perth to compete as Albany finished 16th overall and eighth on handicap.

In the two-day event, Albany juniors competed in a variety of beach and water events ranging from under-10 through to under-13.

Albany SLSC junior director Christine Ficko said it was a great result from the nippers.

“This is the first time Albany has sent under-10 competitors to a State championships and it was pleasing to see an awareness of these young competitors in the way they dealt with them,” she said

“The nippers competed at the carnival with a huge sense of pride and achievement and the team spirit amongst kids and parents was palpable.

“Having coaches on hand to assist the kids was invaluable.”

Albany also sent two competitors to the Senior State Championships, with Molly Bowles and Charlotte Musk producing strong results.

Combining with Floreat in the surf race, the team managed to claim a bronze medal, while Bowles finished fourth in the iron event.

Interestingly, Albany had six sets of siblings competing across the championships.