Between 26 and 28 April 2014 King’s Beach Surf Lifesaving Club once again hosted Lifesaving South Africa’s Annual Nipper Championships. Over the years King’s Beach Surf Lifesaving Club has excelled in arranging and holding surf lifesaving competitions on King’s Beach, which undoubtedly is the best competition beach on our coastline.
Over 700 excited Nippers from 22 South African lifesaving clubs, dressed in their bright skull caps and costumes, descended on King’s Beach to compete for coveted titles. The Nippers competed in events such as: Bodyboard, Bodyboard Relay, Surf Swim, Board Race, Taplin Relay, Board Relay, Iron Nipper, Beach Relay Flags, Beach Sprint and Beach Run. See results below.
What are Nippers? Nippers are future surf lifesaving heroes who will execute voluntary patrols on our beautiful bathing beaches. Basically young lifesavers in training! The Nipper Movement began in Australia in the 1950s.
Children up to 14 years are instructed in surf safety and general first aid. Nippers are taught how to recognise rips, how to catch a wave when swimming or on a bodyboard, teamwork etc. Amongst other life skills Nippers gain skills like leadership and self confidence. Nippers gain ‘surf’ confidence by passing ‘tests’ at different levels. It is a great way for children to learn vital skills whilst having fun in a safe beach environment.
The Nipper Movement of South Africa is one of the country’s great successful youth development movements. The friends made and skills learnt will be carried throughout their lives. As Nippers children enjoy a happy, healthy and active youth. Lifesaving clubs advocate that this program should be part of the national primary school curriculum.
Run by Surf Lifesaving Clubs along our coast, the Nipper program is held during the summer months on Sunday mornings.
Surf Lifesaving Clubs in the Nelson Mandela Bay Area include: Bluewater Bay SLC, King’s Beach SLC, Seagulls SLC (Humewood Beach), Hobie Beach SLC, Summerstrand SLC, Sardinia Bay SLC, Woodridge College SLC (St Francis Beach).
The insert of the 2014 Nipper Champs is currently flighting across DsTV channels:
- 29 May 2014: 12:50 on SS9
- 29 May 2014: 13:50 on Select
- 29 May 2014: 13:50 on Select Go
- 29 May 2014: 17:00 on SS9
- 30 May 2014: 12:40 on Select
- 30 May 2014: 12:40 on Select Go
- 30 May 2014: 18:50 on SS9
- 31 May 2014: 03:50 on Select
- 31 May 2014: 03:50 on Select Go
- 31 May 2014: 11:30 on SS9
2014 Lifesaving SA Nipper Nationals Results:
Aggregate Results:
- Under 9 &10: 1: Durban Surf 335, 2: Plettenberg Bay 212, 3: Umghlanga Rocks 96, 4: Fish Hoek 86, 5: King’s Beach 67, 6 Scotbourgh 64, 7: East London 62, 8: Clifton 53, 9: Warnerdoone 51, 10: Summerstrand 43, 11:Strand 33, 12: Pirates 32, 13: Winklespruit 13, 14: Big Bay 12,15 Llandudno 11, 16 Margate 6, 17: Marine Surf 2
- Under 11 & 12: 1: Pirates 276, 2:Durban Surf 162, 3 Umghlanga Rocks 145, 4: Strand 110, 5 :Big Bay 104, 6: Plettenberg Bay 80, 7: King’s Beach 74 & Llandudno74, 9: East London 70.5, 10: Scotbourgh 46.5, 11: Clifton 38 & Summerstrand 38, 13: Fish Hoek 36, 14: False Bay 25 & Warnerdoone 25, 16: Margate 21, 17 Marine Surf 7, 18: Mossel Bay 3, 19 Winklespruit 1
- Under 13 & 14: 1:Durban Surf 176, 2: Big Bay 173, 3: Fish Hoek 153, 4:Margate 126, 5:Clifton 113, 6: King’s Beach 111, 7: Umghlanga Rocks 106, 8: Pirates 90, 9: East London 65, 10: Plettenberg Bay 59, 11:LlanDudno 43, 12 Strand 33, 13:Summerstrand 29, 14: Strandfontein 18, 15: Scotbourgh 16, 16: MS 7, 17: Alpha 6, 18: Mossel Bay 5, 19: Warnerdoone 3
Competitor of the Championships: All Age Groups
- Under 9 Girls: Morgan Jones Scotburgh SLC 12 pts (2 x G)
- Under 9 Boys: Rowan Bassett Plettenberg Bay SLC 12 pts (2 x G)
- Under 10 Girls: Bella Halstead Durban Surf LC 18 pts (3 x G)
- Under 10 Boys: Chad Uys Durban Surf LC 15 pts (2 x G, 1 x S)
- Under 11 Girls: Alex Heerink-van Breda Clifton SLC 12 pts (2 x G)
- Under 11 Boys: Christian Williamson Umlhlanga Rocks SLC 9 pts (1 x G, 1 x S), Tie with Nicholas Lombard Strand SLC 9 pts (1 x G, 1 x S)
- Under 12 Girls: Alexandra Chislett Pirates SLC 16 pts (2 x G, 1 x S, 1 x B)
- Under 12 Boys: Jordan Minter False Bay 12 pts (2 x G)
- Under 13 Girls: Tayla Gillmore Durban surf LC 18 pts (3 x G )
- Under 13 Boys: Mathew Maroun Umlhanga Rocks 15 pts (2 x G, 1 x S)
- Under 14 Girls: Alice Edward Pirates SLC 19 pts (3 x G, 1 x B)
- Under 14 Boys: Josh Fenn East London SLC 15 pts (2 x G, 1 x S)
Grand Total Aggregate:
- 1: Durban Surf 673, 2: Pirates 398, 3: Plettenberg Bay 351, 4: Umghlanga Rocks 347, 5: Big Bay 289, 6: Fish Hoek 275, 7: King’s Beach 252, 8: Clifton 204, 9 East London 197.5, 10: Strand 176, 11: Margate 153, 12: Llandudno 128, 13: Scotbourgh 126.5, 14: Summerstrand 110, 15: Warnerdoone 79, 16: False Bay 25, 17: Strandfontein 18, 18: Marine Surf 16, 19: Winklespruit 14, 20: Mossel Bay 8, 21: Alpha 6
Author: Rose van Wildemann
See video footage of Nippers in training by Imagio Productions on Vimeo.
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