A quartet of mums are set to represent the Mid North Coast in the Ocean Thunder Surfboat Series at Dee Why Beach from January 8.
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Port Macquarie's Nikki Stafford and Emma Schuch will team up with Cape Hawk rower Corinne Stevenson and Old Bar teammate Sarah Little as they take on the best crews from around Australia on national television.
Ocean Thunder is an annual professional elite surfboat series that attracts the best surf rowers.
Team sweep Mark van Aalderan said the chance to compete against the best 12 female crews was an opportunity for the Gun Mums to test themselves.
"You're playing against the best so mentally you've got to up your game considerably," he said.
"But if you're not in the Ocean Thunder Series you're going to struggle to win state and Australian medals. You need to be in that.
If you're not in the Ocean Thunder Series you're going to struggle to win state and Australian medals. You need to be in that.
- Mark van Aalderan
"It means that we have to do 10 to eleven races in a day which is pretty harsh but it gives all your crews some focus on their training and our girls train twice a day.
"They are focused to make good that they can put up with that many races in a day and there's $40,000 in prizemoney over the four rounds so we're looking forward to it.
"There's 10 ladies crews that have been picked up and one of them is ours."
Dee Why Beach is a challenging location for surfboats and the Gun Mums will look to utilise every piece of experience from their sweep.
This will be his third trip to the series.
"There are some good crews in the North Coast series which keep you honest, but Ocean Thunder is about constantly racing the big guns," he said.
"It's probably 25 to 30 percent harder than North Coast and conditions are challenging at Dee Why. It's not the greatest beach for surfboats but it really challenges the skills of the rowers and the sweeps.
It's probably 25 to 30 percent harder than North Coast and conditions are challenging at Dee Why. It's not the greatest beach for surfboats but it really challenges the skills of the rowers and the sweeps.
- Mark van Aalderan
"It puts us up on another level. The majority of crews that make the semi-finals and finals of the Aussie titles are from the Ocean Thunder. It's all about playing against the best crews."
Van Aalderan was hopeful the commitment of the southern duo would be worthwhile.
"The two girls from down south were handpicked to come up and to their credit they're training and travelling all the time to come up and be with the rest of the crew," he said.
"The majority of the time they don't get home until 9.30 at night after training, but they're very dedicated."
Three other rounds will take place at Dee Why on February 5, March 5 and March 19.
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