Largest surf carnival to be held at Umina

The largest annual surf life saving competitor event in Australia will be held at Umina Beach and Ocean Beach from Friday, March 1, to Sunday, March 10.

The NSW State Surf Lifesaving Championships, which will also be held at Umina and Ocean Beach next year, is expected to attract over 4000 junior participants, 5000 open and masters competitors, 600 officials and 15,000 spectators.

The championships are open to all Surf Life Saving members Australia-wide and are the third largest competitor event held in Australia, second to the Olympics and the Commonwealth Games.

As well as the increase in visitors, Tourism Australia has calculated that the event will bring in over $18 million in additional revenue to the local area.

"It's going to increase the exposure of the Peninsula to the wider NSW population," said local organising committee chairman Mr Brett Harrod.

"I was chairman in 2005 and the number of people that actually came back for holidays after that was quite surprising.

"The Peninsula is a bit of a hidden treasure.

"People don't expect to see all the walkways and waterways and national parks that we've got.

"It will certainly expose the area and that will bring more tourism in," he said.

Mr Harrod said that despite the difficulty in preparing for such a large event, preparation was "well advanced".

"We have had really good support from local Rotary clubs and the local community at large so it's been pretty positive.

"When you're running an event of this size, it's always hard work but when you've got a committee in place like we've got it helps.

"They've been fantastic to work with.

"We're ready to go," said Mr Harrod.

Kaitlin Watts, 18 Jan 2013

Interviewee: Brett Harrod