Surf Life Saving Country Champs: German Olympic star Carsten Loemker headlines Cudgen family of six

The Country Championships are generally a family affair, but this weekend the Loemkers from Cudgen Headland will well and truly take the cake when six family members hit the water.

By nature, the NSW Surf Life Saving Country Championships are a family affair.

With competitors ranging from nippers all the way through to masters, it’s one of the few carnivals where people of all ages compete at the same beach over the same weekend.

But despite this inherent family focus, perhaps none quite compare to the Loemkers from Cudgen Headland SLSC.

This weekend, an incredible six Loemker family members will be taking part in the Country Champs at Cape Hawke in Forster.

From 11-year-old Coco, to Archie (13), Jules (15), Sven (18) and mum and dad Natalie and Carsten, the family from Pottsville will be well and truly in the thick of the action.

“It is quite incredible,” laughs Carsten, who notes that he and Natalie needed their arms twisted before deciding to don Cudgen’s blue and white surf caps.

Jules (left) is a talented young ironman competitor. Photo: supplied.

“There is always a big rivalry between Cudgen Headland and Warilla-Barrack Point for the club points score, and that’s where my wife Natalie and I come in,” he says.

“Having a bit of a competitive background, we’ve been basically roped in for the masters races to hopefully gain some points, so that will be interesting.”

By mentioning his “competitive background”, Carsten is selling himself a bit short.

Born in Germany, the 58-year-old represented West Germany at the 1988 Seoul Olympics, finishing fourth in the K-2 1000m canoe sprint final. Meanwhile mum Natalie (nee Rayner) was a prominent Australian surfer throughout the 1990s.

Sven (left) and Carsten (right) are a key members of the Cudgen Headland SLSC. Photo: supplied.

And with a set of incredibly athletic parents, it’s perhaps no surprise that the younger generation of Loemkers have inherited some of that competitive spirit.

“Of course, for the boys it’s always competitive. It’s like: ‘I’m better at this, I’m better at that,’” Carsten laughs.

In fact, despite his own “competitive” past, Carsten says his kids often cast a concerning eye over his surf abilities.

“Jules always tells me that he’s worried about me: that I’ll drown or break a ski or something else.”

Swapping flatwater paddling for the surf ski

To understand how Carsten ended up with his tribe of six at the Country Champs, you’ve got to go back to 1988.

Racing in the K-2 events, one of the German national team coaches organised a training camp for Carsten and his canoeing partner in Australia.

“So we came down here for two and a half months and trained in Maroochydore, and I sort of fell in love with the country.

“When I went back to Germany I said to my parents: ‘Once my studies are finished I want to go down there for a year on a working visa.’ And I’m still here,” he laughs.

After representing West Germany, Carsten later went on to work with the Australian canoe and kayak team at the Athens 2004 Olympic Games.

As a flatwater paddler who’d had no exposure to surf life saving events before, Carsten was blown away what he saw once he touched down.

“I saw that they were on the surf skis and I thought to myself: ‘Doing a flatwater sprint is a bit like swimming in the pool, so why don’t I try it out on the surf ski as well?’”

And while he had come across some Australian competitors at major canoeing meets around the world, Carsten says he looked at them in a whole new light when he saw them in action in the surf.

“I competed against Australians in Europe, but for example I didn’t really know who Grant Kenny was. I only knew him as a paddler over there. It’s not until you come down here and see.

“Another one was Trevor Hendy. You see them over there in Europe, but then you come down here and think: ‘Oh my god, what are they doing? These guys are amazing!’”

From nippers to masters

Living in Australia permanently since 1994, Carsten is now well and truly a regular on the surf life saving circuit, with the family part of the woodwork at Cudgen Headland.

“I love surf life saving because you’re giving something back to the community that you’re living in, but it also provides you with so much,” he said.

Cudgen Headland will be out to make it six wins in a row at the Country Champs. Photo: JETT JONES

Indeed, Carsten’s oldest son Sven seems to have inherited this sense of civic duty, with the 18-year-old named Surf Life Saving NSW’s Youth Surf Lifesaver of the Year for 2022, on account of his excellent patrol work and rescue assistance during last year’s floods.

Looking ahead to the weekend, although the Loemker’s will be looking to extend Cudgen’s Country Champs’ dominance to six years, Carsten says he’s just looking forward to seeing what the meet will bring.

“Being the only carnival yearly where you compete from eight to 88, it gives the carnival itself a really good atmosphere. You see everyone from nippers all the way to masters. It’s great, no other surf life saving competition gives you that,” he adds.

“There’s basically something for everybody there. You can do the high-end competitive stuff, like Jules for example, or you can be a gumby like me and still have fun and race in the older age groups.”

The NSW Surf Life Saving Country Championships will take place at Cape Hawke SLSC, Forster, from January 27-29.