Clubbie of the Month – February 2020 – Jack Rigby

Jack Rigby Swanny Shorebreak caught up with Jack Rigby, as he awaits the fame and riches that come with being Clubbie of the Month¹ and we avoid taking out the IRB.

¼ Swanny Shorebreak put the following hard hitting investigative journalism questions to Jack: How long have you been at Swanny? I’ve been at Swanny for almost 6 years, joining in the 2015/16 season (I think!)² and loved every single second of it! You live a fair distance from the beach – why choose surf lifesaving and why Swanny? I chose surf lifesaving because of my newfound love of the beach and a need for a summer sport. I joined up with close family friends, the Addy’s, for 2 seasons of Nippers and then moved on to my SRC and Bronze Medallion awards when my age permitted me to! Swanny wasn’t my choice of club³, I just went where I was told, but looking back now there is no chance I would have chosen any other club! Swanny is great for the social aspect and the all-round good environment and friendliness/pure awesomeness! What awards do you have and want awards do you want to have? Currently I have my Bronze Medallion and First Aid awards (on the portal) and I'm waiting for my spinal management, ART, Youth Officials and IRB crew :(  (still after almost a year) awards to go up onto the portal♠. I'm in the process of becoming a drone operator, with the course starting during February, and also slowly in the process of becoming a trainer, by being a happy helper at the next Bronzie Course! The award I most want, as I'm sure every single IRB driver can guess... My IRB-drivers! Hopefully I get my skippers ticket soon and then as soon as I'm old enough, I will be signing up for this award! With my RWC operators coming in close second! But in the long run♣ I’m aiming to get most, if not all of the awards, the only thing preventing me currently being age, and school! I hope to eventually move on to becoming a lifeguard/ obtaining my Gold medallion!♥ How have you gone at Club Championships? I haven’t really competed much this season, instead focusing on my awards and getting my patrol hours up! But last season I came second of two, behind Dom, who beat me in every event♦! Who is your favourite ironman/ironwoman? I don’t follow the ironman/woman outside of Swanny (we're the best anyway) so I can’t really say who my favourite is. Once again¹¹ we suspect Annie, our Swanny Ironman Series organiser, needs to tell to Jack all about the Nutri-Grain Ironman/Ironwoman Series and that the correct answer to the question was Shannon Eckstein and Courtney Hancock. Favourite food? My favourite food has to be fruit and water! Nothing can beat fruit and a cold glass of water after a day at the beach, with my favourite being a three-way tie between mango, watermelon¹² and grapes! And water is the beverage of the Gods, with nothing coming close to being as good as it!¹³ Plans for this season? My plans for this season…. Oh how many I have! My biggest aim currently is to achieve 75 patrol hours, with my total currently sitting in the 40s, as of the past weekend! Other than that I plan on helping with the Bronze course, with my name down for every session as a happy helper! To complete the upcoming drone course and be apart of Swanny’s first drone patrol, continue to be persistent in asking every IRB driver to take the boat out every time I’m at the beach. And to complete my youth officials course and become Swanbourne’s first youth official, as well as just being at the beach and enjoying the summer weather! How was the Rottnest SwimRun water safety? The SwimRun water safety was a day that I won’t be forgetting anytime soon! I unfortunately missed out on being apart of the water safety teams, instead getting to help out Ben at the command centre and getting a great overview at how much effort and planning went into the event, getting to see how much coordination was needed and how long the course actually was! I did eventually get to get into the water for the final leg of the course (of course via a lift from the IRB) and first hand getting to see the first competitors come through the final leg to the finish line! And then the party afterwards, where I watched on as everybody celebrated a successful day's event, sipping on my coke, with a massive smile on my face! I definitely plan on signing up again next year! Any sibling rivalry? Unfortunately for me, the only sibling rivalry I have is who gets to sit in the front seat on the way to and from the beach, (me winning majority of the time), as my brother²² isn’t a big competitor. I did have a competition going on with Dom last season to see who could win the Club Champs, where I got thumped - that being the closest thing I've had to any sibling rivalry at Swanny! What you like about Swanny? A better question is what don’t like about Swanny! Apart from the lack of a jet-ski, absolutely nothing! I love the atmosphere of the Club and how friendly everybody is. How everybody is so helpful and knowledgeable. The best part has to be the future Patrol of the Year though, Taylor patrol! With the one and only Ex-president Johnny G as my patrol captain, Maia and Erin as my amazing Vice-captains, we have one of the best patrol teams ever! (And I would know because I've been on almost all of them). Also a huge shoutout to every IRB driver our Club has, for not only putting up with my constant requests to take the boat out, but also for the amazing job they’ve done in educating me about the boat and the different aspects of how to use it! What will you be doing on the 5th February 2022? BLLLUUUEEEEE PARRRRTTYYYYY!!!!!!!!!! Hahahah!! As I found out today (02/02/20) inspired by the aftermath of the infamous Blue Party hosted yearly at Swanny, I realised that I maybe just 1-2 days short of being able to participate when I turn 18, much like the Country Carnival, where I'll be just 10 days short :(, but after a quick check of the calendar, I found out that my 18th birthday falls on the first Saturday of February, meaning that if all goes to plan and the date stays the same, I will be having my 18th at Blue Party and simultaneously celebrating 5 years as a patrolling member! ∞ Anything else that is funny or interesting? My one big notable achievement (apart from being selected for Taylor patrol) is winning the Kelly O’Mara award last year, which was a great honour! And something interesting about me is that I have been fortunate enough to be selected to go on both youth development camps that SLSWA has to offer, the first being TOAD camp which I attended in 2018, where I got my radio operators and got to spend 4 days at Rotto, an experience I will always be grateful for. And more recently, the Rise Up Camp at Pemberton, which I attended at the beginning of this year, where I had the most fun I've had and met so many amazing people, all thanks to Swanny and surf life saving!

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¾ Notes: 1. Jack said: "Thanks heaps Swanny Shorebreak eNews part-time Website contributor!". We said "Don't get your hopes up regards the riches as it didn't work out too well for Mim, who had her flag (and beach glory) stolen at Smiths Beach." 2. Correct, Jack joined in the 2015/16 season. But that only makes 5 seasons at Swanny by my count, so Jack is obviously enjoying himself if it feels like 6 seasons! 3. At this point in his answer, Swanny Shorebreak eNews was worried that we had picked the wrong Clubbie of the Month, but by the end of the paragraph we knew we were on a winner! ♠. The good news is that they are all in Surfguard, "Awaiting Approval". The bad news is that "Awaiting Approval" often means that someone has lost the paperwork! No doubt the Dave Parsons Project is on top of this. ♣. Insert Points Races joke here. ♥. Look out Graham Sharpe and Jon Broomhall, the most Awards in Surfguard title is under threat! ♦. Club Championships 2018/19 Under 15 - Dominic Bertschinger 1st in all seven events. Jack Rigby 2nd in all seven events. At least you were in the top three! 11. See CoTM October 2019

https://swannysurfclub.org.au/clubbie-of-the-month/clubbie-of-the-month-october-2019-sasha-small/ 12. Nick Hudson, take note for the Swanny Ocean Classic. 13. Luke Bishop, take note for the Healthway Healthy Clubs sponsorship. 22. Thomas is Jack's younger brother by a year and half. Thomas doesn't have an IRB addiction. ∞. And we thought he was going to say driving the IRB for water safety at the Swanny Ocean Classic! Photos: ¼. Jack after completing his Bronze Medallion course. Surf rescue board by Bennett. ½. Completion of the Bronze Medallion course. Jack is the one in red shorts and yellow shirt. ¾. An awkward handshake Jack had with Nick at the completion of the awards at the Bronze course!! PS Did you know that letters for IRB can be found within Rigby!