Australian surf life saving champion Blake Drysdale swapping beach for coal mine
Face planting in the sand is usually an occupational hazard for this coal miner and sporting champion. But not any more.
Manly
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Coal miner by night and one of the fastest men on sand in the day.
Well that’s how it should have panned out for surf lifesaver Blake Drysdale this month.
While the Wollongong-based member of the Newport surf life saving team is still doing nightshift as an underground electrician in the coal mines south of Sydney, his career as a beach flags gun is on hold.
Drysdale should have been competing at the 2020 Australian surf life saving championships on the Gold Coast this week alongside around 5000 other competitors from across the country.
However the coronavirus outbreak and subsequent restrictions and border closures last month forced the cancellation of the annual national championships.
Drysdale is still working during the night but has been left pondering what might have been if he had been chasing his fourth straight win in Beach Flags at the Aussies.
“There’s a lot of people out there that are a lot worse off than we are. At the end of the day this is just something very small that we are missing out on compared to other people and that’s how we have to think about it,” Drysdale said.
But the 27-year-old had been in top-notch shape ahead of his campaign for a fourth Australian crown.
“I was definitely going to put in a pretty good challenge” Drysdale said.
“I was definitely up for it and yeah I guess it’s a bit disappointing but there are a lot of other athletes in a similar situation.
“I wasn’t trying to break any records or anything like that, but it would have been pretty awesome to have done a fourth in a row.”
Drysdale started the sport as a Nipper and over the years has raced for clubs including Coalcliff, Austinmer, Helensburgh, Stanwell Park and now Newport.
But he is now unsure whether his body will carry him to the 2021 Australian surf life saving championships for his shot at winning a fourth consecutive beach flags crown.
Earlier this week Surf Life Saving Australia said in a statement it was still forging ahead with plans ahead of the Australian summer season, including running the Coolangatta Gold in late October.
But the organisation said its plans were dependent on the coronavirus situation and health advice from the government.