Inter-club Nippers Carnival at Cape Paterson – a friendly club rivalry competition

ON Sunday, January 4, Cape Paterson SLSC hosted the Inter-Club Nippers Carnival. This year, the club was joined by Inverloch SLSC and Venus Bay SLSC, who were each represented by their clubs' nipper contingents.

Paul MacNeill, President of Cape Paterson SLSC, said, with over 350 nippers descending onto Cape Paterson First surf to celebrate the season for nippers, the day brought an amazing display of athleticism and a proud display of the club's coloured caps. 

Nippers of all ages showed their skills and demonstrated the athleticism of surf sports at Cape Paterson First Surf, with the competition kicking off at 9:00 am.

“Hosting the Tri-Club Nippers Carnival is such an honour, especially seeing the beach full of families, friends and of course hundreds of Nippers,” said Paul.

James Langlands, Nipper Coordinator for Cape Paterson SLSC, said, this year was the first year that we were joined by Venus Bay, who had a strong representation, with over 70 Nippers travelling to participate.

Mark ('Doogs') Legg, whose father Les was one of the CPSLSC club's founding members, watched all the action from the SES Rescue Boat, stationed behind the action. Mark said, seeing the huge crowds on the beach reminded me of some of our club’s historic past, where thousands of people would crowd the dunes to watch over 1000 competitors compete in the surf carnivals of the late 60's.

“It's great to see the colour of the carnivals returning to our beautiful beaches.”

“It’s been a busy few weeks at the beach over the Summer, but thankfully, no incidents to report,” said Paul.

“We even had the local police visit while we were having our nippers’ program over summer. It was great to see our local officers on the beach.

“With even more events planned for the upcoming weekends, now is the perfect time to get to the beach to see Surf Life Saving in action. But most importantly, always swim on a patrolled beach and between the red-and-yellow flags.”