Surfing Victoria

Victorian Longboard Titles presented by Coopers

Sandy Ryan makes it 3 from 3 at Pt. Impossible!

Sunday, 9 May 2010

(Pt. Impossible, VIC - Sunday, 9^th May2010): The Victorian Longboard Titles Presented by Coopers crowned Sandy Ryan(Phillip Island) the state open longboard champion today for the 3rd year in a row.

Held at Pt. Impossible, 10 mins east of Torquay,surfers enjoyed perfect conditions all weekend with consistent swell and lightoffshore winds. 63 year old Torquay legend and competitor in the Over 60s Mensdivision, Bob Smith, claimed "this is one of the best contests surf wise I haveever surfed in".

Ryan was again in dominating form winning everyone of his heats on route to the final where he took down Adam Lynch (Highton),Jordie Brown (Skenes Creek) and Eli Curry (Phillip Island) who placed 2^nd,3^rd and 4^th respectively.

Scoring two solid rides for a heat total of 15.33(out of a possible 20) Ryan was able to fend off the 18 year old Lynch who putin a solid effort with a total heat score of 14.34 but was unable to match theconsistency of Ryan.

In the women\\\'s, Kristal Gersbach (Torquay)smashed her opponents scoring an impressive 16.17 (out of a possible 20).Gersbach is a recent addition to the Victorian surfing community after movingdown from Queensland 6 months ago.

Sam Suendermann (Anglesea) placed in second withPhoenix Brown (Jan Juc) and Sophie Ciszek in 3^rd and fourthrespectively.

13 year old Ben Considine (Barwon Heads) was astandout surfer from the whole weekend, wowing the judges and spectators bysurfing with maturity and style years above his age. Surfing in both the Under16s and Under 18s, Considine used his amazing skills in traditional"nose-riding" to place first in the Under 16s and third in the Under 18s.

"It was really good out there, perfect for noseriding"

Considine is one of Victoria\\\'s most promisingsurfers after placing second at the Noosa Festival of Surfing in the Under 15boys division earlier this year.

Winning the Under 18 boys was another promisingyoung surfer, 17 year old Oscar Lalor (Apollo Bay). Lalor was in fine form allevent surfing with ease on his backhand in the fast "right-handers".

"There were nice waves out there, some fun wallsto surf"

Lalor also made the semi-finals in the Open men,surfing above his age group. Unfortunantly he was beaten by the two in formPhillip Island surfers Sandy Ryan and Eli Curry.

"It was pretty close but I got knocked out by Eli(Curry), definitely want to go one better next year"

Other winners on the day included Will Cousins(Torquay), Phill Trigger (Pt. Leo), Heather Peck (Ocean Grove), Bob Smith(Torquay), Greg Brown (Jan Juc) and John Ayton (Torquay).

The Victorian Longboard titles is Presented byCoopers, and supported by Surfing Victoria, VicHealth and Play it Safe by theWater.