Surfing Lawyers win OzForex SurfAid Cup

Surfing Lawyers win OzForex SurfAid Cup

Corporate teams raise more than $180,000 for charity SurfAid

The Surfing Lawyers have won the OzForex SurfAid Cup in one-metre surf at South Curl Curl, on Sydney’s northern beaches, with sixteen corporate teams raising more than $180,000 for humanitarian organisation SurfAid.

OzForex not only sponsored the event but also won the fundraising trophy by raising $32,000.

OzForex CEO Neil Helm said it was a great day. “OzForex was proud to be the lead sponsor for this year’s event as well as being invited to enter a team. And we are proud that the funds raised will go towards SurfAid’s mother and child health program in Sumbawa, eastern Indonesia,” he said.

“What we lacked in quality surf was made up for in enthusiasm and enjoyment,” Helm added. “The SurfAid team did an awesome job and the final was a fitting end to a fantastic day.”

In a closely fought final, the Surfing Lawyers defeated Allan Hall Business Advisors in the dying seconds, with Aquabumps Shredders third and the Shaw Brothers fourth, in a tag-team event which matched world champions and former professional surfers and celebrities with corporate fundraising teams.

The other placings were: CBA and oOh!media (equal 5th), AMP Capital 2 and BlackRock (equal 7th), Citi Frothers, The Heavyweights, ToyBell and OzForex (equal 9th), and Paradice Investment Management, Perpetual, Crown Clowns and AMP Capital 1 (equal 13th).

Business heavyweights who competed included: Andrew Landman (Managing Director, BlackRock), Stephen Dunne (Managing Director, AMP Capital), Gregg Piercy (Executive Director, Thakral Capital), Madeleine MacMahon (HR Director, AMP Capital Investors), and Mark Burmeister (Managing Director Head of Global Capital Markets, Morgan Stanley).

Two former world champion surfers, Layne Beachley and Tom Carroll, pulled on the coloured jersey along with two Rugby League legends, Andrew Johns and Mark Gasnier.

Former top professional surfers who each joined the corporate teams were Simon Anderson, Luke Egan, Rob Bain, Matt Hoy, Richie Lovett, Toby Martin, Matt Bemrose and Jarrad Howse plus top junior Jordy Lawler, lifeguard Ryan “Whippet” Clark and local rippers Ben Hamilton and Dan Karren.

The Surfing Lawyers were Matt Warburton, Trent March, Guy Foster, James Walker-Powell and their selected celebrity surfer Ryan Clark.

Surfing Lawyers captain Matt Warburton, who is Hudson’s Chief Legal Officer, said his team felt good. “I love that we can come and support the great work that SurfAid does. We all travel to Indonesia on a regular basis so to be able to support SurfAid who put so much back into the communities that we visit is great.

“It’s always good to be a winner but I think SurfAid is the big winner which is the best part,” Warburton said.

SurfAid Australia board member, and captain of Team Perpetual, Charlie Lanchester, said it was a privilege to be part of the OzForex SurfAid Cup.

“To compete against past champions, raise money for such a good cause and hang out with a great group of people makes for an incredible experience. I can't wait for next year. Thanks to everyone who helped organise the event,” Lanchester said.

You can support the teams here.

The mission of SURFAID, a non-profit humanitarian organisation, is to improve the health, wellbeing and self-reliance of people living in isolated regions connected to us through surfing.

SURFAID’s health programs involve education in nutrition, hygiene, healthy environments and disease prevention - including mosquito net distribution.

SURFAID has built an award-winning capacity in emergency preparedness and has delivered five emergency response programs following major disasters, including the Boxing Day 2004 Tsunami and the October 2010 Mentawai tsunami.

surfaid.org

ENDS

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