Arabic version: الإنقاذ البحري يصقل مواهب فريق غولد كوست صنز في دوري AFLW

According to ABC News, nine Gold Coast Suns players have backgrounds in surf lifesaving, with five in the women’s program: Ava Usher, Havana Harris, Nyalli Milne, Lucy Single and Bronte Parker. Four men’s players — Jed Walter, Will Graham, Ethan Read and Jai Murray — have also come through the sport.

Usher, 19, made an immediate impact in her first AFLW season and had been the outright Rising Star favourite before receiving a one-match suspension for a high bump in round 11. Her sporting background includes little athletics, swimming, basketball, boxing, football and surf lifesaving. Usher said surf lifesaving was a hard and gruelling sport that taught discipline, which has carried over to football.

Surf lifesaving combines water events, including swimming, board and ski paddling, with beach competitions such as sprints, relays and Beach Flags. It also teaches practical skills including resuscitation, spinal management, rescue-tube tows and multi-person medical response. Usher said the sport’s unpredictable conditions helped prepare athletes for uncertainty on competition day.

Single, a Gold Coast co-captain, competed in surf lifesaving throughout school and specialised in beach running. She said training across sand, track, grass and the gym made running on a football field feel easier. Players also use time at the beach for physical and mental recovery, Single said.

Gold Coast’s focus on local academy talent has strengthened existing connections among players. Sixteen of the 33 players on the Suns’ women’s list are Gold Coasters, while Usher and Harris competed together in surf lifesaving before joining the academy. Eight academy graduates debuted in round one, and the new homegrown intake helped the Suns move from wooden spooners last year to a fifth-placed finish.