With Wanda kicking off our summer series this Saturday, our Shaw and Partners Financial Services Summer of Surf competitors are feeling the hype build for the season ahead!
Most of our athletes competing are covering four major disciplines within their training program. With early morning starts, countless kilometers covered across the ocean and in the pool, an enormous grocery bill and plenty of chafe, it makes you wonder why these men and women continue to set their alarms and turn up, day after day.
Why?
We are told the answer is easy: The Shaw and Partners Financial Services Summer of Surf!
Making her move from the little apple isle in the south at the beginning of the 2021/22 season, Maroochydore’s Pheobe Woodhouse has experienced an energy on the beach unlike any other competition she’s ever been to.
“It’s wild, it’s big surf, it’s fun. It’s why we do our sport!
“The Shaw and Partners Summer of Surf show a passion unmatched by anyone else and as a competitor you can feel that energy, that vibe on the start line and on the beach, making it truly a stand-alone series.”
Finishing up with an overall 6th placing in the Open Women’s Ski standings last year, integrating her short course paddling with the ocean racing series throughout the off season and balancing it all with a little two-stoke chasing her brother around on a motorbike, Pheobe has continued her WHY this offseason and will line up in her third series, living permanently on what the Tassie folk like to call, ‘the mainland’.
For our 2022/23 overall Open Women’s Board champion, Hannah Sculley, her WHY throughout the winter months is for the excitement that the Shaw and Partners Summer of Surf series offers.
“The thrills, the spills, and the action-packed racing.
“It’s always exciting to see the beaches packed and everyone battling it out in all the different events.”
Delivering consistent excitement in the big surf herself, performing and unphased, perhaps even excited by the big crowds, we are looking forward to seeing what Hannah delivers this summer with another offseason driven by her WHY, under the belt.
Burleigh Heads Mowbray Parks Claudia-Rose Slaven is said to be in great form following an enormous off season ahead of her summer series! Motivated by her WHY, the Shaw and Partners Financial Services Summer of Surf series, its vibe, energy, and the $600,000 worth of prize money up for grabs, Claudia has been setting her alarm and charging up and down the Sommerset pool under the watchful eye of Kingy.
“I love the energy, and the vibe it brings. The racing is exciting, everyone is pumped and with the amount of prize money on the line, anything can happen.”
Finishing in a top 20 position overall in the Open Women’s swim series with just 3 carnivals on the board for the 2022/23 season, Claudia’s WHY will have her toes on the start line for every swim race coming up this season, and with that, we have no doubt that you will see her standing on the podium, likely, more than once.
Bringing everyone together after months apart, doing a little or a lot of the same hard work, routine and early mornings, the Shaw and Partners Financial Services Summer of Surf series answers Newport’s Charlie Verco’s WHY with, opportunity.
“I love the series because it brings together everyone who loves this sport and provides them with an equal opportunity to compete against the best surf athletes in the world.”
Charlie finished his 2022/23 series with an 8th overall in the Open Ironman including 3 top 10 finishes and a 35th placing for his 4 viable accumulated points, with opportunity driving his WHY, we will have a keen eye on Charlie this upcoming season.
For the 2022/23 Shaw and Partners Financial Services Shannon Eckstein Classic U17 Female Board Champion, Alana Picton, our summer series rewards her WHY. Her early mornings grinding in the pool, attending key flat-water sessions, and executing gym sessions with strength she never thought imaginable, the Shaw and Partners Financial Services Summer of Surf series rewards her effort with the excitement of the finals package and the experience of travel to and from different beaches.
“I love the Summer of Surf series because it is so competitive, having the point system and the finals package makes it so rewarding to do well.
“I also love how it’s all over Australia, so you get to travel and race at beaches with all kinds of different conditions, it keeps it interesting and brings everyone together.”
Standing on the very top of the podium and driving home in a brand-new car at the conclusion of the Shaw and Partners Financial Services Summer of Surf 2022/23 Series, Open Ironman overall champion, Zach Morris’s fuels his WHY with his mates on the beach.
“I love the series because everyone comes to the event which means you can socialise and get around others.
“I also love having the mixed Taplin at the end of the event bringing the clubs together and everyone getting around it. ”
Who doesn’t want to spend a day or two racing around with mates, chatting under the tent and celebrating success at the conclusion of the carnivals?
We most certainly do.
Our WHY – YOU, THE ATHLETES!