Umina crew in national finals

A surf boat crew from Umina Surf Club is the last crew from the Central Coast left to compete in the Australian finals.

Early this month, the Umina under-21 and under-19 surfboat crews competed in the NSW final of the VB cup series at Forster on the Mid North Coast.

Both crews had earned the right to compete by finishing as finalists after three rounds of the VB cup in central division where they would meet the finalist from northern and southern divisions of NSW.

The under-21 crew made up of Mark Van Aalderan (sweep), Geoff Webster, Dean Hillard, Chris Martlew and Ben Shannon finished second in the NSW final, earning the right to compete against the finalists from all the other states at Wanda on February 24.

Club officials said that achieving second place in the NSW final was a remarkable feat considering three of the four rowers had not seen a surfboat before this season.

"They are a credit to themselves, their families, Umina surf club and the Peninsula."

Carl Spears, February 5