Best athletes, most medal winners at Australian surf life saving titles 2025, Jasmine Rayward top gun
A teenage multi-sport gun is moving to a new sport to chase an Olympic dream after ending the Australian surf life saving titles as its champion of champions with an incredible medal haul.
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A teenager is shifting her attention to a new sport to chase an Olympic dream for LA and Brisbane after ending the Australian surf life saving titles as its champion of champion.
Aussies 2025 on the Gold Coast had it all with new talent emerging, one of the legends of iron racing writing her name in history - then retiring - the legendary Ali Day vowing to race on and teenagers like Jasmine Rayward showing the future of the sport is in strong and steady hands.
Rayward, this week attending an Australian sprint kayak camp after being selected in the Australian team to travel overseas for competition this year, won a staggering nine medals at Aussies 2025 - including six gold.
The 18-year-old picked up gold medals in the U19s double ski, single ski relay, single ski, Taplin, rescue tube rescue and ironwoman races.
She also finished with a bronze in the open Taplin with her other medals coming from a second in the U19 surf race and surf teams and a third in the surf belt.
“I’ll have to put this on hold for a while but I’ll definitely be back on the beach. I just love surf life saving,’’ said the cross code athlete.
“To even consider giving it up for a little bit is really painful but the Olympics is my ultimate goal and one day I’ll be back.
“This has been the hardest decision of my life but the opportunity has come up and I just want to be as good as I can with my goal to win a kayaking medal at an Olympics.’’
Rayward topped her younger sister Bianca’s haul of eight medals, the second highest of the nine day surf extravaganza, with Newport Olivia Clues also winning eight medals to fill out the top three on the most medals table at the event.
While Rayward will step away from surf life saving to concentrate on making an Olympic team in the immediate future, there is plenty of talent coming through with Sydney athlete Clues in the same age group.
The northern beaches teenager won the U19 board race and board relay and finished second in the single ski relay, the single ski, the Taplin and the ironwoman race.
She also won bronze medals in the open single ski relay and the U19 surf teams event.
Cyra Bender from Northcliffe was the third best athlete in the U19s with six medals which included wins in the surf race and surf teams, silver in the double ski and surf belt and bronze medals in the board relay and iron woman.
In an extraordinary final Australian Surf Life Saving championships for Georgia Fitzsimmons, the retiring iron champion, won an incredible seven medals which included five golds.
Fitzsimmons, who grew up on Sydney’s northern beaches and now races for Northcliffe, became the first female in history to win four iron crowns at Aussies.
She also won the mixed double ski gold with her Olympic paddling husband Riley and also picked up gold medals in the rescue tube rescue and surf teams.
Her other medals were silver in the double ski and board relay.
Her old sparring partner in iron racing, Jemma Smith, also a top ocean paddler, won seven medals as well with her golds coming in the champion lifesaver and female board relay.
Smith won a silver in the single ski relay, Taplin and mixed Taplin and finished with a bronze in the open champion patrol.
The third most successful woman in open competition at the carnival was Naomi Scott who won the board race, the Taplin and the surf teams race.
Zach Morris finished as the top open male competitor with an impressive haul of six gold medals.
The former Newport competitor, now based at Northcliffe on the Gold Coast, won the board race, the Taplin, the mixed Taplin, board rescue, board relay and surf teams events.
Riley Fitzsimmons, who competed at the Paris Olympics last year, left the beach with five medals including gold in the double ski with his wife, the single ski relay, the Taplin and the rescue tube rescue.
His silver was behind Olympic teammate Dan Collins in the single ski.
Rayward’s teammate at Burleigh Heads Mowbray Park, Ethan Callaghan, was the top performer in the U19 male competition with six medals, which included one in the open competition, and the male competitor of the meet..
Callaghan, a revelation on the professional iron man series over summer, won the board race, single ski relay, board rescue and then finish second in the board relay, the ironman and surf teams event.
His open medal came in the Taplin where his club finished third.
Connor Maggs from Newport won four U19 medals, which included ironman and surf teams gold, and two open medals with his silvers in the Taplin and Mixed Taplin.
Ryan Harland from Northcliffe was the next most successful with five medals which included wins in the U19 belt, Taplin and surf races.
Alexandra Headlands Byron Oliphant and two of his teammates dominated the U17 division at the Aussies.
Oliphant won the surf race, ski race, Taplin and surf teams event.
Fletcher Burdekin won the board relay, finished second in the Taplin and ski relay and third in the board relay.
Kyton Pickering won the ski race, the ski relay and the Taplin and finish second in the surf teams.
Bianca Rayward was the top U17s female competitor with eight medals across U17 and U19 events.
Highlights of her carnival included wins in the U17s surf belt and ski relay and U19 Taplin, RTR and surf teams.
Swansea Belmont’s Kaitlin Rees from Swansea Belmont with six medals which included wins in the U17s Taplin, surf race, board race and ironwoman.
Queensland and NSW dominated the overall clubs point school with Northcliffe defending its title from Newport.
There were six Queensland teams in the top 10 with the remaining spots filled by NSW clubs.
Overall club pointscore at Aussies 2025
Northcliffe (418 points),
Newport (249),
Burleigh Heads Mowbray Park (228),
Wanda (160),
Alexandra Headland (136),
Currumbin (120);
Swansea Belmont (116);
Maroochydore (114),
Noosa Heads (96),
Coogee (NSW) (83)
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