Joined by Chief Patron, the Honourable Chris Dawson, Governor of Western Australia, nearly 500 attendees representing WA’s 31 surf life saving clubs, corporate and government partners, and guests celebrated the past season and the efforts of members.
Surf Life Saving Western Australia (SLSWA) recognised the outstanding achievements of its volunteer members and clubs at the annual Awards of Excellence on Saturday night, celebrating excellence across all areas of the movement throughout the past year.
President Heidi Gan paid tribute to the passionate volunteers, saying the event was about celebrating those who commit countless hours of service and dedicate their weekends and holidays to helping keep West Australian beachgoers safe and uphold the organisation’s mission of saving lives and building great communities.
The most prestigious honour of Life Membership, recognising those who have demonstrated outstanding commitment, leadership and passion to surf life saving over an extended period of time, was awarded to Scarboro Surf Life Saving Club’s Peter McDonnell and Secret Harbour’s Carolyn Wilson.
Taking out the coveted Lavan Club of the Year title, including a cheque for $10,000, Albany Surf Life Saving Club had a year of success across all areas of surf life saving.
Albany, with the opening of their brand-new facilities, created a renewed sense of purpose and belonging amongst members resulting in significant membership growth, while ensuring that the club was a place for everyone through development of pathways, community events and inclusion initiatives. Their success on the evening didn’t end there. Paul Bairstow was awarded Age Manager of the Year award continuing the club’s commitment to inclusion through dedicated work within Albany’s All Abilities Woodside Nippers Program.
Amongst the other individual award recipients on the evening was Swanbourne Nedlands Surf Life Saving Club’s Dr Leesa Equid, who took out both the Volunteer and Trainer of the Year categories. A driving force behind the creation and development of the new Lifesaving CPR, this national initiative has placed surf life saving volunteers at the forefront of improving out-of-hospital cardiac arrest response and treatment.
Surf Lifesaver of the Year was awarded to Denmark’s Robyn McMeikan in recognition of her front-line service and strong advocacy around beach and coastal safety in her community.
Fremantle’s youth proved strong, with member Hudson Whiting awarded Young Surf Lifesaver of the Year for his commitment to continuous improvement, which has seen him attain numerous certifications and be actively involved in emergency response activities. Clubmate Amrit Jessy was named Young Volunteer of the Year, with his contributions to his club through leadership, innovation, and member development being recognised.
In surf sport, City of Perth’s Gabrielle Murphy was inducted into the Sporting Hall of Fame in recognition of her nearly two-decade-long career, which has seen her amass multiple West Australian, Australian, and international individual and team titles across beach sprint, flag, and relay events.
Gabrielle is also a member of the City of Perth Open Female Beach Relay Team, which was named 2026 Surf Sports Team of the Year after they successfully took out both the West Australian and Australian titles, while teammate Imogen Herrington was named Athlete of the Year after a successful return to form, having missed the 2025 season due to injury.
Up-and-coming Trigg Island athlete Annika Negus finished out the year on a high, taking home both Young Athlete of the Year and the Bernie Kelly Medal, awarded to the most successful athlete in the WA Championships.
In a season that included state team selection, multiple WA titles, including the open surf, board, and belt races, and a strong showing at the Australian Championships, she has firmly established herself as one to watch.
The winners of the following awards will go on to represent WA at the Surf Life Saving Australia Awards of Excellence in November: Surf Lifesaver, Young Surf Lifesaver, Volunteer, Young Volunteer, Community Engagement, Official, Coach, Athlete, Young Athlete, Surf Sports Team, Trainer, Assessor, and Lavan Club of the Year.
