Eve Jeffery
Founded on the whim of a movie script writer, the iconic Coolangatta Gold celebrated its 30th birthday over the weekend in an action-packed event. Athletes converged from across the country in a battle to conquer the ultimate endurance challenge.
The event, harking back to the glory days of Grant Kenny and Guy Leach, has matured into a great carnival, with mature being the operative word for many of the competitors.
First-timers the Bruns Hookers entered a masters teams into the short-course event on Saturday.
Competing together in the Coolangatta Gold Short Course 35+ Masters, the team of Phil Parker, who competed the first leg ski paddle 14.6km from Coolangatta to Miami, then David Kyle-Robinson, who swam 2.5km to Burleigh, Paul Davis who paddled the board 6km to Currumbin where Grant Carey took over running the 7.1km back to Coolangatta, completed the course in less than four hours.
The blokes didn’t know *they had won the event until well after the race was over. ‘It was a surprise as our runner crossed the line to find out we were in front as there were so many competitors on the course in different categories,’ said a very excited Paul Davis after the race. ‘This is the first of the medals for Brunswick masters as we are making a comeback into the competition arena. We are recruiting a whole heap of new members so get training and join us down at the beach.’
The lads had the support of the whole club on the day and a committed support team that worked as handlers during the event, which was essential on the day as the conditions were tough.
The team will definitely be back to defend their title next year and a second masters team from the Brunswick SLSC is also being put together for some friendly inter-club competition.
For more information about the club and the masters, visit their website: www.brunswickslsc.org.
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