Best NSW, Queensland athletes at U17, U19 open Australian Surf lifesaving championships, medal tally
The calculations are in and NSW and Queensland were clear winners in the medal stakes at Aussies 2023. We crunched the numbers and discovered the top 39 athletes by medal colour.
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They were the best on the beach and in the surf at the 2023 Australian surf life saving championships in Perth in 2023.
The top competitors from across the U17s, U19s and opens who made their way west to compete at the famous surf carnival.
The numbers have been crunched to find out who the top surf life savers were - based on the gold, silver and bronze count (individual and team medals) - over the final five days of the competition which this year attracted more than 6000 competitors.
The event kicked off with two days of youth racing, followed by another two days of Masters competition.
But the U17s, U19s and opens all competed together on the final five days of the nine-day event.
And it was one of the youngest athletes in the main event who claimed the mantle as top competitor.
Newport’s Connor Maggs won an extraordinary eight golds and one silver for a medal haul of nine for his five days of effort.
He was the most successful athlete across the board at the event with a standout performance in his open board relay title with clubmate Charlie Brooks.
Ironwoman champion Naomi Scott, the former northern beaches young gun who relocated to Northcliffe this season was the top open female competitor with four gold, two silver and two bronze for a total of eight medals.
It was the young gun’s best ever performance at an Aussies and included her win in the ironwoman - almost a decade after she won the U15s iron race.
Also racing off with four gold medals was Paris Olympic swimming hopeful Lani Pallister.
Pallister, the new darling of Australian swimming after a standout performance at the world short course titles in December and tipped to be one of the stars of the Paris Olympics, also picked up two silvers on her “mental refresher’’ from the pool.
Young gun Lily O’Sullivan from Burleigh Heads Mowbray Park was the top U19 female.
The rising star of the Nutri-Grain iron series won four gold, three silver and a bronze for her stellar haul of eight Australian surf life saving medals.
Former Newport athlete Mitch Morris, another who has relocated to Northcliffe for his surf career, was the top U19 male athlete with four gold, one silver and one bronze.
The best performed U19 male from NSW was Ashton Neall from Mollymook with two gold and two silver medals.
The best performed open male at Aussies 2023 was Northcliffe’s swim gun Nicholas Sloman who won five gold medals.
The best under 17 female at the championships was Jasmine Raywood from Burleigh Heads Mowbray Park who won three gold, two silver and one bronze for a total of six medals.
The best U19 female from NSW was Paris Olympic kayaking hopeful Natalia Drobot from Avoca Beach.
Drobot, who came directly front the Australian kayaking championships to race in the surf, won three gold medals and one silver.
The best U17 female from NSW was Lani Waller from Redhead who finished the event with three gold, two silver, and one bronze for total of six medals.
World ocean paddler Jemma Smith from Newport was the top performed NSW athlete in the open female competition with one gold, two silver and two bronze medals.
In terms of the most medals, Maggs was a clear leader with his nine while Scott and O’Sullivan both won eight .
Claudia Bailey from Northcliffe, another talented paddler, also won eight medals in the U19 competition (two gold, four silver, two bronze)
Olivia Clues from Newport won seven bronze medals in the U17 competition.
Other standout performances at the Aussies included Ali Day winning a third consecutive iron crown and Olympians Riley Fitzsimmons and Aly Bull winning the single ski crown
CLUB POINTSCORE
1 Northcliffe 510, 2 Newport 251, 3 Burleigh Heads Mowbray Park 176, 4 Maroochydore, 160, 5 Alexandra Headland 150, 6 Currumbin 137, 7 Wanda 107, 8 North Cronulla 102, 9 Kurrawa 93, 10 North Bondi 80
Name, Club, State, Age, G-S-B Total
Conner Maggs Newport NSW U17 Male 8-1-0 9
Nicholas Sloman Northcliffe QLD Open Male 5-0-0 5
Lily O’Sullivan Burleigh Heads MP QLD U19 Female 4-3-1-8
Naomi Scott Northcliffe QLD Open Female 4-2-2 8
Lani Pallister Alexandra Headland QLD Open Female 4-2-0 6
Mitchell Morris Northcliffe QLD U19 Male 4-1-1 6
Danielle McKenzie Northcliffe QLD Open Female 3-2-1 6
Jasmine Rayward Burleigh Heads MP QLD U17 Female 3-2-1 6
Bailey Armstrong Northcliffe QLD Open Male 3-2-0 5
Callum Brennan Currumbin QLD U19 Male 3-1-2 6
Jake Morris Northcliffe QLD U19 Male 3-1-2 6
Lani Waller Redhead NSW U17 Female 3-1-0 4
Natalia Drobot Avoca Beach NSW U19 Female 3-1-0 4
Oska Smith Northcliffe QLD U19 Male 3-1-0 4
Kai Harland Northcliffe QLD U19 Male 3-0-3 6
Zach Morris Northcliffe QLD Open Male 3-0-1 4
Claudia Bailey Northcliffe QLD U19 Female 2-4-2 8
Riley Brennan Currumbin QLD U17 Male 2-4-0 6
Emma Woods Alexandra Headland QLD Open Female 2-3-0 5
Ava Usher Northcliffe QLD U17 Female 2-2-1 5
Grace Otto Burleigh Heads MP QLD U19 Female 2-2-1 5
Olissa Onley Northcliffe QLD U19 Female 2-2-0 4
Ashton Neall Mollymook NSW U19 Male 2-2-0 4
Olivia Corrin Northcliffe QLD Open Female 2-1-2 5
Aly Bull Alexandra Headland QLD Open Female 2-1-1 4
Amelia Rowe Northcliffe QLD U17 Female 2-1-1 4
Cyra Bender Northcliffe QLD U17 Female 2-1-1 4
Zara Richters Northcliffe QLD U17 Female 2-1-1 4
Ethan Callaghan Burleigh Heads MP QLD U17 Male 2-1-1 4
Bree Mccowatt Northcliffe QLD U19 Female 2-1-1 4
Charlotte Cross Burleigh Heads MP QLD U19 Female 2-1-1 4
Nicholas Green Currumbin QLD U19 Male 2-1-1 4
Ryan Green Currumbin QLD U19 Male 1-3-1 5
Daisy Quinn Metropolitan Caloundra QLD U17 Female 1-3-0 4
Sophie Ferenczi North Bondi NSW U19 Female 1-3-0 4
Jemma Smith Newport NSW Open Female 1-2-2 5
Ryley Harland Northcliffe QLD U17 Male 1-2-1 4
Aveline Rounsley Northcliffe QLD U17 Female 1-1-2 4
Asher Ward Northcliffe QLD U19 Male 1-1-2 4
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