Caption:
WA Ironwoman Alicia Marriott will be looking to take her second Australian Ironwoman crown on her home turf.

first Western Australian to win the Australian iron woman crown at
Scarborough Beach.

The efforts of surf lifesaving's quiet achiever overshadowed the win by
Shannon Eckstein who overcame the power of Northcliffe rival Zane Holmes to
win his third National iron man crown and Olympic kayaker Clint Robinson who
won his 13th Australian single ski title - taking his 36th National championship.

But it was Marriott, who employed a "catch me if you can" attitude from the
opening board leg, who stole the show and won the hearts of the crowd.

And as hard as she tried, 2001 winner Hayley Bateup (Kurrawa, QLD), could
not peg Marriott back as she put the blinkers on and powered her way through
the ski leg and on to the swim.

Bateup, who by-passed the Kellogg's Nutri-Grain Iron Man Series for the TV
Series Gladiator, tried desperately to stay in touch, chasing Marriott all
over the ocean in the swim.

But last year's NIB Coolangatta Gold winner, who had earlier become the
first WA competitor to win the open women's surf race, had another gold in
her sights.

The further the race went the further Marriott moved in front, hitting the
beach to the roar of the vocal local crowd - including her sisters and City
of Perth team mates.

It was a sea of colour as thousands of people crowded the custom-built
amphitheatre and for the first time officials built the finishing arch in
front of the grandstand next to a large screen, creating the best atmosphere
ever at an Australian championship carnival.

"This is just amazing...every time I ran through the transition I could hear
the crowd screaming, it really helped me," said Marriott, who has emerged as
the latest queen of the surf.

"My family, surf club team mates, training partners and coaches are in the
crowd, I can't believe it....I hope this will be a catalyst for things to
come for other young aspiring iron women in Western Australia.

"My coach Ric Turner has been with me since I was 13 years of age."

Bateup, who earlier won gold in the open women's board relay and silver in
the single ski was a comfortable second while former Western Australian Emma
Wynne (North Burleigh, QLD) took bronze.

SHANNON OUTGUNS HOLMES FOR THIRD TITLE - JUST

Caption:
Shannon Eckstein bounced back after a disappointing lose in the Kellogg's Nutri-Grain Series to take out the prestigious Australian Ironman title.

In the iron man final it was Shannon Eckstein who had to overcome the power
of fellow Northcliffe rival and 2004 winner Zane Holmes with some
precisioned last minute timing to win back the title he won in 2003 and 2006
with veteran Wes Berg from Burleigh Heads Mowbray Park in third.

Eckstein's decision to stand up and move across for a better position to
catch a small wave was the only difference between Australia's two highest
profile ironmen.

"I've had a great season apart from one bad race in the Kellogg's final at
Coogee where I think the pressure got to me as it did here last year but
coming here this year the pressure was off me," said Eckstein.

"When I saw the draw with the swim last I knew I had to be in touch because
I've been swimming so badly this year because of shoulder and neck problems.

"Hopefully some rest between now and the World Championships will have me
right before I make a final decision on whether I do the Coolangatta Gold
again."

CRONULLA TEENS CROWNED COMPETITORS OF THE CARNIVAL

Caption:
U17 beach sensation Ellie Graff's outstanding performance made her Female Competitor of the Carnival.

Cronulla's pair Kyle O'Brien, 15 and Elly Graf, 17 were named the respective
male and female competitors of the carnival while O'Brien won the Peter
Lacey Medal for the most outstanding under 15 competitor at the carnival.

O'Brien won the under 15 tube race, board and surf race and was a member of
the god medal winning Cronulla board relay and was also second in the under
15 ironman and third in the Cronulla Cameron Relay.

Graf also ran herself to the top of the individual medals table on a busy
final day with the speedster claiming three gold medals with the Cronulla
kids finishing on a par with three of the biggest names in surf sports, the
Northcliffe, Qld, trio - iron men Shannon Eckstein and Zane Holmes and
Olympic surf ski paddler Tate Smith.

Graf finished first in both the open and under-17 beach sprints and also
took gold with the Cronulla under-17 beach relay team.

Yesterday she won the under-17 beach flags event and rounded out her
impressive haul of medals with bronze in the open flags and the open beach
relay.

Eckstein backed up his iron man victory today with gold medals in the board
relay, the surf teams and the Taplin relay.

Holmes and Smith were also part of the winning Taplin relay team.

Holmes' three other gold medals came in the board relay, the surf teams and
the ski relay where he put in a spectacular paddle to set up the win.

Smith joined Holmes in the ski relay team and also picked up gold in the
double ski with Nick Crilly and the mixed double ski with Rachel Simper.

NORTHCLIFFE WIN FIFTH STRAIGHT CHAMPION CLUB POINTSCORE

Caption:
Can the all stars from Northcliffe make it six Aussie titles in a row?

Northcliffe won the carnival club pointscore for the fifth year in a row,
with their 261 points comfortably putting them ahead of Burleigh Heads
Mowbray Park (204) and Cronulla (170).

Final points (top 10): 1. Northcliffe 261; 2. Burleigh Heads Mowbray Park
204; 3. Cronulla 170; 4. Alexandra Headland 158; 5. Manly 122; 6. North
Burleigh 114; 7. Mooloolaba 108; 8. City of Perth 104; 9. Terrigal 101; 10.
Trigg Island 90.

ROBINSON'S 36TH GOLD MEDAL IN OLYMPIC CLASS SKI WIN

Caption:
Olympian Clint Robinson outclassed the biggest all star line up in the Open Male Ski, to take his 36th Aussies gold medal at Aussies 2009.

Clint Robinson, the most successful competitor in the history of surf
sports, out-paddled a field laden with Olympians to win the open single ski
title and claim his 36th career gold medal at 2008 UBD Australian Surf
Lifesaving Championships.

Fuelled by a competitive fire that never seems to die, the 35-year-old took
the lead from the start of the ski final and then produced a mid-race burst
that blew his rivals away.

For Robinson, the win - his first in the single ski since 2005 - was a
satisfying end to a tough year that has seen him selected for his fifth
Olympic Games in Beijing as a kayak paddler.

Four of Robinson's Olympic team mates - Tate Smith, Tony Schumacher, Ken
Wallace and Jacob Clear - were also in the final but could not match the
sizzling speed and grim determination of the man from Maroochydore, Qld.
Smith, of Northcliffe, Qld, finished second, just ahead of defending
champion Peter Scott (Redhead, NSW), himself a former Olympic kayak paddler
in Atlanta, 1996.

"I came here for that," an emotional Robinson said afterwards.

"I've been second the last two years and that hurt the crap out of me so
while I had other events here this weekend, that was the one I really
wanted.

"I'd been having a few sleepless nights thinking about the ski final."

The win gave Robinson's his 13th open single ski title and the result was in
little doubt after he turned the final buoy to head back to the beach.

"I turned around to see where the others were and said to myself 'this is
where I win it today'," he said.

"I put in some longer strokes and the others were getting caught up at the
cans (buoys) I thought there is no way I will not win this, no matter
what."

Robinson spoke of the unquenchable competitive instinct that has kept him at
the top of surf sports for nearly 20 years and brought him an Olympic kayak
gold medal at Barcelona in 1992.

It will also be driving him towards the chance of another Olympic medal when
he competes in either the K2 or the K4 kayak at Beijing.

"I just have a burning ambition to compete," he said.

"It has been there since I first started competing and my Dad taught me to
win.

"Days like this are the glossy days, the icing on the cake but people don't
see all the other days when the training nearly kills me."

Meanwhile Cronulla's Chris Allum finally cracked it for the gold medal in
the prestigious open men's surf race after placing on three previous
occasions.

Caption:
Chris Allum, after taking out the Open Male Surf Race at Aussies 2008.

Allum, 22, scored one of the most convincing wins in recent times and he now
shares an even closer bond with his father Greg, who won his first
individual gold medal in the Australian iron man championship in 1979.

"That's the one I wanted...that means so much to me...I thought I would
never get it after finishing third twice and second before," said Allum, who
finished ahead of iron man Shannon Eckstein (Northcliffe, QLD)) with Corey
Jones (Metropolitan Caloundra, QLD) an unlucky third.

The women's surf race went to Alicia Marriott (City of Perth, WA) who became
the first Western gold medal since the race was first swum in 985.

She won the title in a tight finish from Courtney Hancock (Northcliffe,QLD) with Jenny Parry (North Burleigh, QLD) coming from behind to take the bronze - Kurrawa's revitalised iron man Daniel Shade added his second gold medal of
the championships when he out gunned Eckstein to finally cracked it for a
win in the open men's board final.

Shade, 24, who won the world board title at Manly in 2000, waited for the
momentum of a small wave to shot past Eckstein in the final 10 metres to win
the race to the line, from Eckstein and his club mate Pierce Leonard.

Yesterday he combined with club coach, former iron man star Phil Clayton to
win the open board rescue title.

In other events, Northcliffe pair Tate Smith combined with Nick Crilly to
win the open men's double ski; team mate Elizabeth Pluimers the open women's
board and Northcliffe-based Flora Manciett (France) the open women's ski.

TRIPLE TREAT AS NORTH COTTESLOE J CREW JOIN BOAT GREATS

Caption:
North Cottesloe J surf boart crew joined Aussies surf boat elite after taking their 3rd consecutive Open Surf Boat title in 2008.

The North Cottesloe J crew joined a select group of the country's greatest
surf boat crews when they won their third successive Open A boat
championship on the final day of competition at the 2008 UBD Australian Surf
Life Saving Championships at Scarborough Beach, WA today.

The Jack Alliss swept crew joined Cronulla, Ballina Lighthouse-Lismore and
Warriewood as the third crew since Freshwater won the first title in 1920 to
win three straight titles.

Cronulla, swept by Jack Monro won three between 1933 and 1935; Ballina
Lighthouse-Lismore, with Max Sidney holding the big oar won their titles
between 1967 and 1969 while the Ross Jorgensen-swept Warriewood were crowned
champions between 1979 and 1981.

The key to the race came as soon as the starter's gun fired when the J Crew
got a jump on their rivals and immediately opened up a significant lead.

A delighted Alliss, now ranked as one of the best sweeps in the country,
said: "We recognised after the Ocean Thunder Series that starts were a huge
problem for us.

"For the past two months we've worked extensively on our starts and
explosiveness off the beach and that paid dividends today.

"Then in the second half of the row out we put in a big effort and that's
where we won the race."

New South Wales champions Whale Beach, swept by Howard Christie, kept in
close contact with North Cottesloe out to the buoys but just couldn't match
the unrelenting pace of the West Australians on the trip back to the beach.

While the parochial Perth crown roared them home with chants of "North Cott,
North Cott", Alliss drove his crew to the line and an emphatic victory.

As Alliss and the crew were swamped with well-wishers, he paid tribute to
the rowers who have powered his boat to so much success, especially Peter
Charles.

"Pete joined us three years ago and doesn't know what it's like to lose,"
Alliss said.

"In that time we've won three State titles, three Nationals and the World
title."

Coogee powered home over the final stages to take the silver medal with
Whale Beach hanging on for the bronze medal.

There was great celebration after the women's final when South Curl Curl
finally struck gold - dethroning two-time National champions Avoca with
Mooloolaba taking the bronze.

It was the same box trifecta as last year instead the blue, yellow and white
caps of South Curl greeted the judge in slashing style with veteran rower
Lara Raymond leading the charge, standing up in the bow, claiming the
victory.

Popular sweep Chris Flemming was ecstatic, saying: "I've had these girls for
about five years and we've had a goal that included winning the nationals.

"We've won everything but Ocean Thunder this year so there's no doubt we've
been the top crew."

For Flemming it was his first National championships gold medal after 35
years involved with boat rowing.

He paid special tribute to Raymond, who has been in the crew throughout the
past five years.

"She's been rowing since the start of women's surf boats - about 10 years -
and has put in so much hard work for this team," he said.

In the Reserve Grade final, it was the Coogee Prawns who took home gold,
beating off the challenge of Queenscliff Rexonas and Currumbin Beach
Cannons.

Austinmer Blue scored an emphatic victory in the final of the men's under-23
championship, beating Currumbin Beach Thundercats and Bilgola Gold.

The women's under-23 gold medal went to MacMasters Beach Jade ahead of Palm
Beach Poison and Woolamai Beach Furies.

In the under-19 championship, it was another victory for North Cottesloe,
with Noosa Heads second and Avoca Beach Helmets third.

For a full list of results and all the highlights from 2008 Aussies, visit the official website www.aussies2008.com.

For all photographs from Aussies 2008 visit www.harvpix.com