The Maroochydore Surf Life Saving Club is “re-focusing” after it had to hand back a state trophy because of a scoring bungle, for the second time in eight years.
The club celebrated on Sunday after it was announced it had won the overall point score for the four-day Surf Life Saving Queensland Youth Championships at Mooloolaba.
IN PHOTOS: All the action from the carnival
But SLSQ announced on Tuesday that the scores had been revised and North Burleigh was, in fact, the champion club.
SLSQ said “an error in the LiveHeats scoring system meant that a full record of points was not calculated correctly and the results of the top two clubs was incorrect”.
Maroochydore SLSC president Rob Elford said the results for one race were not recorded at the event.
He said it was a “disappointing” episode.
“We thought we were the winners, so we celebrated,” he said.
“But at the end of the day, we must take the positives out of the carnival.
“The kids, not just from our club, were magnificent.
“When you see an under-11 hitting the water and swimming 150m out to sea and back, you just stand there amazed.”
He said the club would now set its sights on future competitions.
“We’re re-focusing. We’ve taken the result on the chin and we’re moving on,” he said.
“We’re not going to dwell on it. It happens.”
In fact, it also happened in 2017.
Maroochydore seemingly won the overall points score at Hervey Bay, only to hand the trophy to neighbouring Alexandra Headland SLSC the next day, after a counting error occurred.
Mr Elford said the latest incident would be in the back of their minds at future events, including next year’s state championships.
“I don’t think it will be a driving force, but it might play a small part (in motivating),” he said.
He also expected the scoring process to be rigorous.
“Everyone is aware of what has gone on, so it will be huge next year for everyone to check all the results all the time,” he said.
SLSQ general manager Kurt Wilson said the scoring mishap was an unfortunate circumstance.
“Surf Life Saving Queensland regrets the human error that occurred in the calculation of the overall point score and offers its apologies to Maroochydore and North Burleigh SLSCs who were impacted,” he said.
“While these errors are unfortunate, it does not take away from the fact that we had an incredible four days of competition that saw more than 1500 juniors from right across our state achieve wonderful results.
“The strong club camaraderie on display from our juniors is something we celebrate, as our clubs are at the heart of surf lifesaving and we know our members have pride in representing their clubs and regions.”
The senior and masters championships will take place from Friday, February 24, to Sunday, February 26.
Final youth placings: North Burleigh 422 points, Maroochydore 419, Alexandra Headland 275 points.
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