An ironman legend has been tasked with leading the revival of surf sports at a historic and once-dominant club.
Former Coolangatta Gold winner Rhys Drury has become the head coach at the Mooloolaba Surf Life Saving Club.
The club boasts a proud, competitive 100-year-old history.
It was a glamour club as recently as 2014, with an all-star cast including the likes of Ali Day, Matt Poole, Matt Bevilacqua, Kendrick Louis, Josh Minogue and Alicia Marriott.
But the club cut funding to its surf sports program to focus on lifesaving initiatives.
It’s now in a position to revitalise its competitive side, with Drury at he helm.
The 45-year-old, who won the sport’s toughest race while he was an athlete at Mooloolaba in 2006, is poised to propel the maroon and whites back into the spotlight.
The club’s director of surf sports, Trent Robinson, said the club was pursuing sports excellence once again.
“We are very excited to be taking Mooloolaba Surf Sports in this new direction,” he said via a press release.
“The club has long been the underdog of the competition circuit and we are working hard to get the club back to its peak of the glory days.
“We are proud of our new coaching team and thrilled that such a legend of the surf, Rhys Drury, will be heading up the coaching staff.
“It will be an exciting time for our junior members to be mentored and coached by one of surf lifesaving’s greats”.
The club’s goal for the next three years is to invigorate all aspects of the surf sports program and a new youth program.
“In three years, we want to be competitive in all aspects of surf sports, including Surf Rescue, Iron, Surf Boats, Surf Craft, R&R and Beach,” Trent said.
“We want to create a healthy, fun environment for youth to train and compete to become better people as they continue their journey through lifesaving and in the community.”
The Mooloolaba surf boats section led the way last season with their boat academy, which attracted youths to the surf life saving club.
Rhys has joined other experienced coaches at Mooloolaba, including Maddy Gale (nee Dunn) and Josh Linton.
Maddy has returned as an under-14s to open coach. She competed in the elite Nutri-Grain Ironwoman Series for nine straight seasons, finishing second overall in 2019.
Joshua is the under-8s to under-13s nippers coach, after a successful competitive career, which included winning Australian titles in board and beach relays.
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The club is in a strong position to make headway.
It has more than 1450 members, with Mooloolaba lifesavers completing 14,000 volunteer patrol hours and performing more than 1800 preventative actions and rescues per season.
The Mooloolaba Nippers is one of the largest nipper programs on the Sunshine Coast, with more than 500 children participating per season and Starfish Nippers for children with disabilities.
The Surf Club, Mooloolaba Supporters Club, has more than 260,000 visitors annually and 50,000 plus members.
For more information, visit Mooloolaba Surf Life Saving Club.
