Surf Life Saving Country Championships: Ollie Sharpe to lead the charge for Lennox Head-Alstonville

He stunned everyone last year by taking out the open men’s Ironman race at just 16, and this year Ollie Sharpe will be headlining Lennox Head-Alstonville’s charge at the Country Surf Life Saving Champs.

Ollie Sharpe was responsible for arguably the moment of the carnival at last year’s NSW Surf Life Saving Country Championships.

The then 16-year-old from Lennox Head-Alstonville SLSC stunned spectators and competitors alike when he took out the open men’s Ironman race.

In fact, he even stunned himself, only deciding to swap the under 17s for the opens at the last minute – and just for a laugh.

“I was going to do under 17 iron but I thought: ‘You know, let’s do the opens with the boys,’” he said at the time.

“I was shocked (when I won), but that’s surf racing for you.”

Sharpe stunned the field by taking out the open men’s Ironman event at last year’s Country Champs.

Now, 12 months on, Sharpe certainly won’t be going into this year’s Country Champs – hosted by Forster’s Cape Hawke SLSC – under the radar.

But it’s not like the extra attention is bothering him.

Save for competing earlier in January at the Super Surf Teams League and the Trans-Tasman Tri-series – the latter with the successful NSW Country squad – Sharpe has been taking a pretty steady approach into the Country Champs.

“I was super stoked with my results last year,” he said.

“I’m very grateful for all the support I received throughout the season and particularly at Country Champs from my club, coaches, teammates and family.

“I wouldn’t have been able to do it without that great support.

“I haven’t been training much over the Christmas break, but I am looking forward to Country – it’s one of my favourite carnivals.”

Indeed, with a mix of events from nippers all the way to masters, Sharpe says there are few carnivals that match the vibe of the Country Champs.

“It’s about the atmosphere for me,” he said.

“Country just creates this great atmosphere – you’ve got U8s to Masters, board riding and the surf boats all racing on the same beach on the same weekend.

“Everyone gets around the races and cheers each other on in true country style and it creates a great environment.”

Oliver Sharpe (right), pictured with Lennox Head-Alstonville Taplin relay teammates Lachlan Mahon and Jackson Bond, at the 2022 NSW Country Surf Life Saving Championships.

Sharpe will be leading the charge for Lennox Head-Alstonville, who finished in fourth place in the overall rankings last year – a remarkable achievement considering the club is far smaller than many of the main competitors.

“We’re sending down a team of close to 40 – but that 40 pack a pretty good punch,” says coach Sam Miller.

“They’ve been training really hard, they’ve got a good work ethic, and we have plenty who, regardless of whether they’re seniors or juniors, all get in and train together, which is really good.”

In addition to Ollie Sharpe, the club will have plenty of competitive athletes taking to the water at Cape Hawke, with Sharpe’s sister, Niamh, expected to give the board races a shake in the under 15s and open competitor Nathan McKenzie coming off an impressive performance in the Nutri-Grain Ironman trials.

Sharpe’s sister Niamh is another talented competitor for Lennox Head-Alstonville.

While a recent spike in population in the Lennox area has helped drive up the club’s nipper numbers up to around 320, Miller says that the nature of being based in a regional area means that the numbers tend to fall away in the senior age groups.

“I think the challenge for us is holding our senior competitors, and by senior I mean 15s through to opens,” she says.

“They generally leave the area so they can go and study, whether it be Sydney or the Gold Coast, and with that you lose them as a competitor because they’ll generally go and join a club elsewhere where they can live and train. So that’s the hard thing – maintaining our competitive kids once they get to those ages.”

And although they are far from the biggest club taking part, Lennox Head-Alstonville will be looking to punch well above its weight again this weekend.

“I think that goes to the fact that we’ve got a really good club spirit,” says Miller.

“If it’s one in, it’s all in. We all really back each other, the seniors are there cheering on the junior kids and the nippers come and watch the oldies go round the traps.

“We have a really great parent base, we bond together really well for a small team, and I think if you add a bit of fun into the competitiveness then it’s a really good combination.”

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