Marine Rescue NSW medal rush at NSW Police and Emergency Services Games

Marine Rescue Lake Macquarie’s dynamic fishing duo, Ian and Leanda Guy, cleaned up in the Angling tournament at September’s NSW Police and Emergency Services Games in the Shoalhaven.

The husband and wife returned home to Coal Point on the shores of Lake Macquarie with a swag of medals.

The pair each won six medals, with Leanda claiming overall women’s gold, while the men’s was a tight contest, with Ian taking bronze following a countback.

“It was such a wonderful event, and we enjoyed our time in the Shoalhaven immensely,” Leanda said.

It was the first time the sporty pair had contested the Games, having previously competed at the World, National, and Asia Pacific Masters Games in a variety of sports, including squash, softball, and athletics, with Leanda winning silver at the 2002 World Masters Games Squash Tournament.

“We have competed in many local fishing competitions but never the NSW Police and Emergency Services Games. We’ve always wanted to take our caravan down to the South Coast and thought this would be a nice opportunity to do a reconnaissance mission,” Ian said.

The three-day Angling tournament provided the pair with the opportunity to contest species divisions both inside (enclosed) and outside (offshore), while chasing overall glory.

Ian’s third placing overall saw him take gold in the bream, morwong, and outside flathead categories, along with silvers for inside flathead and men’s outside. Meanwhile, Leanda complemented her overall gold with three silvers and two bronzes in various species categories.

The pair made the most of their first-ever visit to the Shoalhaven, arriving a couple of days before the competition and were even the recipients of a “pay it forward” gesture.

“Lea was getting some groceries, so I went to fill up the boat and got talking to a gentleman at the bowsers.

“I told him that my wife and I were from Marine Rescue Lake Macquarie and were competing in the fishing tournament at the NSW Police and Emergency Services Games. He was a lovely bloke.

“He finished his refuelling and headed inside, and then as I was walking in to pay, he stopped me and told me that he had taken care of the bill.

“He said that ‘he loved that we volunteer for Marine Rescue NSW’.

“He told me that he was a paramedic nurse and ‘we have to look after each other’. I was totally blown away by the gesture,” Ian said.

That wasn’t the only friendly encounter the Lake Macquarie pair had. They received fishing maps, along with latitude and longitude coordinates, from two different people and even won a couple of raffles at the Greenwell Point Bowling Club.

On the eve of the Angling tournament, Leanda said they popped into the Marine Rescue Shoalhaven radio base at Crookhaven Heads.

“Their radio base is in such a beautiful location, and the operators on duty, Michael and Robert, were so friendly and welcoming. They took us through the base, and it showed me the friendly spirit of MRNSW,” she said.

Ian said he Logged On and Off with Marine Rescue Shoalhaven on all three days of the competition, which was the first major outing for the new 90-horsepower Suzuki engine on their five-metre Fi-Glass Dominator cuddy cabin boat.

Suzuki Australia provided the pair with sponsorship for the Games, and Ian said the new outboard performed brilliantly.

“We fished in a number of different locations, in 25 metres of water in Berrys Bay and out at Nowra Hill, which is about 2.1 nautical miles off the coast.

“On the first day, the weather was terrible; it would have blown a dog off its chain.“

We headed up the Shoalhaven River to try and find a bank to get out of the wind, and I thought at one stage I’d caught a big jewie. We even had to lift the anchor to chase it, only to find it was one of the biggest stingrays I’ve ever seen in my life,” Ian said.

Leanda and Ian’s debut at the NSW Police and Emergency Services Games resulted in 12 medals, a memorable experience, and some improved fishing spot knowledge for when they finally head south for a holiday.

“We had a wonderful week and look forward to fishing the Shoalhaven again,” Ian said.

Marine Rescue NSW was well represented across a variety of other sports at the Games. Cottage Point’s Bronte Wilkinson won double gold in the women’s 500-metre open water swimming (race and age category).

Marine Rescue NSW IT Support Coordinator Matt Sims teamed up with Penrith-based police officer Chris Peake and prison officers Zach Maitland and Sean Titheridge to win gold in the team darts.

Marine Rescue Sydney radio operator Gary Offner (pictured above) was on target at Nowra Rifle Range, claiming bronze in the 50-metre Prone and 50-metre Bench Rest. Botany Port Hacking Master and Marine Rescue NSW General Manager of Training and Capability, Brad Whittaker, took bronze in the Open Surfing, while Marine Rescue NSW Deputy Commissioner Todd Andrews excelled in athletics.

Deputy Commissioner Andrews collected silver in the 100 and 200-metre sprints and bronze in the 400 metres and long jump.

Marine Rescue NSW is a volunteer based not-for-profit professional organisation dedicated to keeping boaters safe on the water and supporting local communities.