Enthralling finish to Stan Mac surf relay
The intense competitive rivalry between Bondi and North Bondi surf life saving clubs was recently demonstrated with the staging of the 67th annual Stan and Basil McDonald memorial 20-person surf relay.
North Bondi won the event, commonly known as the “Stan Mac Relay”, for the 18th consecutive year, but it was the closeness of the see-sawing race in a choppy and testing sea that enthralled the big crowd of supporters.
Bondi established a commanding lead after the early stages of the relay before it was temporarily halted for the buoys that had drifted towards the beach to be re-set.
North Bondi later cleared away to lead the relay by more than three minutes before Bondi narrowed the gap to 27 seconds on the final leg for one of the closest finishes in the history of the event.
North Bondi’s winning team (in the order they swam) was: Tim Shaw, Christian Knox, Matt Jenkins, Brett Johnson, Michael Love, John McCarthy, Louise Stevenson, Matt Hamilton, Greg Bishop, Talbot Henry, Peter Colquhoun, Oscar Tate, Emily Chancellor, Shaun Clyne, ‘Spot’ Anderson, Peter Meyer, Joel Maybury (captain), Campbell Bennett, Kirsty Smith and Trent Knox.
Bondi was represented (in the order they swam) by: Simon Nothling, Josh Scott, Hamish Cameron, Adriel Young, Oliver Schaefer, Michael Pollard, Anne Braun, Michael Czolij, Chad Schnider, David Jenkins, Sara Gentin, Julianne Krueger, Josh Yuide, Colin Marshall, Simon Watkins, Bradley Horrey, Danny McKell, Adam Nezval, Rick Van Kampen and Grant Baldock (captain).
