McMahon makes waves at titles

WORLD-CLASS: Ipswich competitor Peter McMahon keeps impressing in his masters racing.

Sarah Harvey

HE lives 70km from the coast yet the choppy waters of the ocean are where Peter McMahon feels most at home.

Last weekend at Kurrawa Beach, McMahon took out gold and silver medals at the state surf life saving titles.

He was disappointed, however, to miss out in the event at which he and partner Peter Fraser are world champions – in the 65-69 years board rescue.

“The surf was biggish, about one and a half feet but very rough,” McMahon said.

“My partner in crime (Fraser) from the world champs board rescue – I got out okay but he went to the wrong cans.”

The pair has dominated the world titles in their discipline since 2004 when they won the event in Viareggio, Italy.

They were relegated to runners-up at Lorne, Victoria, in 2006 but won their title back in Germany’s Baltic Sea in 2008.

This year the titles are at Alexandria, Egypt. McMahon is determined not to give up his title again.

But he has concerns about contesting the national surf titles, also at Kurrawa, from March 16-21.

The reason is he had a heavy fall from a bicycle and may have fractured a rib.

McMahon was born in Ipswich but learnt about the surf at his parents’ holiday house at the Gold Coast’s Budds Beach.

“As children, swimming in the river and surf was a way of life,” he said.

“That was before there was any high rises.”

It was there that McMahon first learnt the practical side of surf life saving.

“At Surfers Paradise, when the tide goes out, the sand bar collapses and swimmers who didn’t know would get in trouble.

“Life saving then wasn’t all that organised but we used to go out and give them a hand.”

It was in the heart of Ipswich where McMahon first learnt to swim.

“I’ve always swum,” he said.

“I learnt in what was the old baths near the transit centre.

“It was a 33-and-a-third yard pool with no filtration, so they emptied it twice a week.

“The catfish used to wait at the outlet (into the Bremer River).

“It was the days of steam trains so the soot would blow across.

“There were not many cars then so it was a part of the social network.”

McMahon, who lives at Coalfalls, competed at the national titles in the pool in 1960-62. He now runs the successful McMahon’s Swim Factory in Ipswich, not far from the old baths, and is providing children with the opportunities he took for granted growing up.

“My privilege is I’ve turned my sport into a business,” McMahon said.

“I’m so thrilled to give kids the opportunity to understand water.”