Successful Open Championships defence for Clifton Beach

Monday 25 March 2024

Clifton Beach has defended the Tasmanian Open Surf Lifesaving Championships with a commanding performance at Penguin over the weekend.

On the back of 53 victories and 130 podiums, Clifton Beach finished on 775 points, well clear of Burnie (518pts) and Carlton Park (381).

The margin of victory was more than three times the size of last year when Burnie got within 84 points of Clifton Beach.

One of the standout performers for the champion club was Cate Clingleffer who consistently scored points in the Open age group - including gold in the Ironwoman - but incredibly finished in the top three in every event on the Under 19 program.

Female ski gold medallist Courtney Dowling also performed strongly across the carnival in both beach and water events, while James Fullerton was also consistently scoring points.

Burnie were a force in the boat area winning the Open Male and Female events and setting the platform for gold in the Lifesaver Relay. In the individual events, Brad Rubock and Elsie Menzie were particularly strong, while the club also took out the blue ribband Open Male Taplin Relay.

Host club Penguin finished fourth on the overall standings thanks to 25 top three finishes, with Logan James taking out the Open Beach Sprint.

The Under 17 division is proving bring through some of the top male athletes in the state. Jordy Armistead (Port Sorell) and Sam Castle (Carlton Park) not only dominated their own age group, they also consistently racked up points in the Opens with Castle winning the Ironman and Ski and Armistead taking out the Surf Race.

While many athletes who competed on the weekend will be targeting the Australian Championships in April, Sunday’s events brought to a close a wonderful month of Tasmanian State Championships which saw Clifton Beach win the Juniors overall pointscore and Carlton Park take out the Masters for a fourth consecutive year.

2024 Tasmanian Open Surf Life Saving Championships
23-24 March 2024 | Penguin SLSC

Overall Pointscore
Clifton Beach 775
Burnie 518
Carlton Park 381
Penguin 147
Port Sorell 135
Kingston Beach 134
Ulverstone 115
Devonport 53
Bridport 7
Mermaid Beach (QLD) 7

Full results are available on Live Heats.

Successful Open Championships defence for Clifton Beach