The surfing coal miners and their supporters raised a record $36,000 for two charities in the Illawarra area – the Wollongong Operating Suite, which received $25,000; and the Disabled Surfers Association receiving $8,000.
The surfers were drawn from six collieries in the Illawarra as well as a team from Coal Services. Coal miners from Xstrata's Tahmoor, Gujarat's NRE Colliery, Peabody Energy's Metropolitan colliery and three BHP Billiton mines – Appin West, West Cliff and Dendrobium – all took to the waves.
“The day went brilliantly – perfect conditions, perfect sunshine and fantastic surf, it was the best day we had in the three years”, said event organiser Chris Bates. The competition was held at East Corrimal Beach and Chris Bates said it was evident surfing stars were abundant among Illawarra coal workers, with a number of standouts for the day.
The overall winner for the second year in a row in the short board division was NRE’s Tully Robinson, with Tahmoor’s Mark Spooner coming second and West Cliff's Tyson Loemker third.
Tahmoor’s Jayce Pioli won the long board division with Metropolitan's Kevin Morton and Coal Services' Bill Morris coming second and third respectively.
The team title was won for the third year in a row by Metropolitan Colliery surfers.
Organisers said there are plans afoot to expand the surfing event in the future and they are hoping next year’s competition will include a team from the Northern District.
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