Bull Sharks will send alarm bells ringing in the waters of North Kirra beach this weekend as Bond athletes hit the sand for the 2025 Australian Surf Lifesaving Championships.
Better known as ‘The Aussies’, 7000 competitors will converge for Australia’s biggest annual sporting event.
The beach will be studded with both current and past Bull Sharks, with the likes of Savannah Voigt, Will Savage, Archie Vernon, Joe Collins, Claudia Bailey, Alyssa Bailey and Jasmine Rayward competing.
The week-long event which runs through till the 6th of April will also feature members of the Bond Surf Squad coached by Bond’s Director of Swimming, Kyle Samuelson.
It will be the final bow for BMD Northcliffe’s Georgia Miller as she retires at the completion of this season following a lucrative career which has seen her take home multiple Iron Series wins, 28 Aussie gold medals and the Triple Crown for winning the Coolangatta Gold, Iron Series and Australian Ironwoman title all in the same season.
“Georgia has been the benchmark in our squad for six or seven years. It will be sad to see her go, but we are excited for her next chapter. She has had a fantastic sporting career,” Samuelson said.
Savannah Voigt, a 19-year-old from South Africa, moved to Bond University in 2023 to study a Bachelor of Health Science.
“I grew up by the ocean and surfed throughout my childhood. I joined Clifton SLSC and did my nipper years there,” Voigt said.
“The move to the Gold Coast really benefited my training, it’s the hotspot for lifesaving, I love the lifestyle here, everyone is so active.”
Voight now competes for BMD Northcliffe SLSC and trains under Bond’s senior assistant swimming coach, Zander Hey in the pathway squad.
“The facilities we have here at Bond are amazing and the coaches are all so knowledgeable,” Voigt said.
Voigt will compete in the surf swim and board rescue events over the weekend.
“Training has been really hard at the moment, I’m a bit nervous about the week but I’m excited to race as I haven't raced in the surf since the Lifesaving World Championships in September last year,” she said.
Fellow Bull Shark and 2024/25 Shaw and Partners competitor Will Savage will don the black, green and gold cap as he represents his club, Burleigh Heads Mowbray Park SLSC.
“Aussies is the big event everyone trains all season for in order to achieve the best results they can for their club,” Savage said.
“Training under Michael King and with the Burleigh Squad has been good in the lead up to the event.
“I just want to get out in the surf, have fun and enjoy the races after a long surf season.”
You can catch all the Aussies’ action at North Kirra Beach or here on SLSA’s daily livestream.
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