Following the tragedy that occurred during the 2024 14 Beaches Ocean Race on the weekend, we would like to provide a follow-up with information on how to access support services, an update on formal results and notification of selections and most of all thank everyone who stepped up and assisted on and off the beach on Saturday.
First and foremost, our thoughts remain with the family and friends of the paddler who tragically passed away near the finish of Saturday’s race.
The strength of our sport is our incredible paddling community across Australia, and we sincerely thank and acknowledge those members who acted selflessly, in what was clearly a very stressful situation, to assist the organisers and emergency services on the weekend. We are proud that our community always look out for our fellow paddlers. Never has this been better exemplified than by the actions of those that helped on Saturday.
Paddle Australia, in collaboration with Paddle Queensland, is in the process of contacting all those that made themselves known to the event organisers, both to thank them for their prompt and selfless actions and to offer support as required. Anyone who helped during the incident that did not make themselves known on the day is invited to contact Paddle Queensland.
We also extend our sincere gratitude to the first responders. The volunteer lifesavers from Tallebudgera and North Burleigh SLSC; Gold Coast City Council Lifeguards; Queensland Ambulance Service and the Queensland Police Service, all of whom worked quickly and professionally in response to the incident.
Together, Paddle Australia and Paddle Queensland, will prepare a full report on the incident, calling on the relevant agencies where necessary. The findings will be shared with the paddling community as soon as they are available.
As many of you are aware, as a mark of respect for the paddler who passed away, the prize-giving scheduled for Saturday afternoon was cancelled. Official results and photographs from the event, including the announcement of the newly crowned 2024 Paddle Australia Ocean Racing National Champions, will be released later this week. All entrants will be notified once the results have been posted.
Those who have qualified to represent Australia at the 2024 ICF Ocean Racing World Championships being held on Madeira, Portugal 4-6 October will also be confirmed as soon as possible.
Finally, we know situations such as this can impact everyone in different ways and we encourage anyone in our paddling community who has felt personally affected by this tragedy to reach out to Paddle Australia’s confidential counselling support via Employee Assistance Program (EAP) provider, Work Happy. Please contact Work Happy on 1300 796 640 (select Work Happy when presented with options) or connect@workhappy.com.au to arrange face to face, phone or online counselling or alternatively contact Paddle Aus on info@paddle.org.au for additional advice and support.
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