THE countdown is on to the 2002 LightIce Australian Surf Life Saving Championships on the Gold Coast next month.

A record field of more than 7500 competitors is expected for the event, being held at Kurrawa from Tuesday 19 March � Subday 24 March.

The championships are the pinnacle event of Australia�s icon sport, surf lifesaving, and ranks as one of the world�s largest individual sporting competitions.

With their eyes focused firmly on gold, the nation�s top lifesavers - and many from overseas - are hard in training for �the Aussies�.

This massive and spectacular event draws the cream of Australia�s 100,000-plus volunteer lifesavers ranging in age from 16 to 70, representing over 300 clubs that dot the Australian coastline - as well as elite overseas lifesavers.

A bumper crop of competitors, ranging from teenage champions-in-the-making through to veteran greats of the surf, will converge on Kurrawa, at Broadbeach to do battle in more than 100 events over five days along a 3km competition area, overseen by more than 500 officials and watched by more than 20,000 spectators.

Competitors will include reigning Australian ironman and ironwomen champions, Ky Hurst and Hayley Bateup, who both will be defending their titles, plus the nation�s leading bronzed boaties, beach sprinters, board and ski paddlers and crack rescue teams.

Tens of thousands of spectators will flock to Kurrawa to witness the five-day spectacle, with millions more tuning in to watch the event on television.

The 2002 LightIce Australian Surf Life Saving Championships are being hosted by Kurrawa for the seventh consecutive year as part of a long-term agreement between Surf Life Saving Australia, Queensland Events and the Gold Coast City Council.

�The LightIce Australian Surf Life Saving Championships just get bigger ever year,� said Surf Life Saving Australia chief executive Greg Nance.

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�Last year, we had a total of 7500 competitors in both the Australian Championships and the preceding Australian Masters Championships. We�re expecting to top that number this year.�

Mr Nance said SLSA�s decision to hold the championships on the Gold Coast created a �win-win� partnership.

�With its large supply of accommodation and other quality tourism infrastructure within walking distance of the competition venue, the Gold Coast has proven a first-class host of the event,� he said.

�The Gold Coast community also gets behind the event in a major way. Local business leaders have formed an advisory committee which stages the �World�s Biggest Surf Party� - a carnival of off-beach lifesaving-themed events and activities which get the whole city into the spirit of the LightIce Australian Surf Life Saving Championships.

�The direct and indirect economic benefits to the Gold Coast and Queensland in hosting the event are in the order of millions of dollars.

�The Aussies love the Gold Coast and the Gold Coast love us.�

For further information or comment contact Surf Life Saving Australia Ccommunications Officer Anna Wallin on (0407) 286 619 or (02) 9597 5588 or Gold Coast Tourism Bureau marketing communications manager Margie McGregor on 617 55 922 699 or email margiem@gctb.com.au

Statement issued by �MACKENZIE� phone (0417) 160 423