Both the children and the adults did exceptionally well.

Conditions were tough, with huge and choppy waves, big breaks and strong rips and even adults were pulling out of events. However Black Head nippers braved the conditions with guts, skill and tenacity – a credit to Paul Kremer and Noelene Young who have been training them.

Jordan Kremer competed in the under 10 board and surf swim events. He gained fourth place in the surf swim final and just missed out by one place on getting into the board final. He had to contend with wave after wave to get out past the break in the board, and did a brilliant job of catching up to those board riders that had managed to beat the crashing waves. He missed out on a place in the finals by millimetres.

Brianna Weir competed in the under 10 surf swim, board and sprint events. She gained a third in her surf swim heat and 12th in the final. She gained a third in her board heat through to the semis and then just missed out on a place in the finals after having to battle an enormous rip and waves. She got as far as the semis in the beach sprint.

Mitchell Dagger won a bronze medal in the under 11 flags and came a very close fourth in the beach sprint finals. Mitchell also competed in the board event.

Kristian Weir gained a bronze medal in the under 11 iron person event, eighth in the board final and 12th in the surf swim final. He also competed in the beach sprint.

Cameron Dagger was eighth in the under 13 beach sprint finals. Cameron also competed in the beach flag event, making it through about four heats.

Danika Jones competed in the under 12 beach sprint and flags. Ben Young was a bronze medal winner in the under 14 surfing competition.

Meredith King gained a silver in both the under 19 and opens beach flag.

Kristian Weir and Jordan Kremer competed together in the combined under 11/12 board rescue – Jordan swimming against children who in some cases would have been up to three years older than him. They came a convincing second in their heat, but were unfortunately disqualified for going around the buoy the wrong way.

The masters also did exceptionally well. Noelene Young won a gold in the board event – her fifth year in a row. She finished with a bronze in the surf swim. Debbie Edstein gained a bronze medal for both the surf swim even and the beach sprint.

"The club did exceptionally well, it must be noted that around 50 or more children competed in most events, and that just about all of our competing nippers gained places in finals or got medals under what were harsh conditions," junior club president Warren Wysocki said

Competing at this level has provided the children with positive challenges and experiences, Mr Wysocki added.

He said that apart from developing skills and beach safety and confidence, being a member of the club gives children a sense of pride and belonging.