DURING his career on the sand, Sam Zustovich had achieved nearly everything he could in surf lifesaving by the age of 19.
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From endless state titles, in both the beach flags and sprints, to national crowns at an under 15s, under 17s and under 19s level, as well as a world championship, Zustovich has dominated the sand scene like few before him.
But one thing had escaped his grasps up until recently.
That was the Australian open male flags title, which he claimed on Friday at the Sunshine Coast.
In the final, Zustovich held off strong competition from Northcliffe's Jackson Symonds and Newport duo Jake Lynch and Blake Drysdale (defending champion) to claim the gold medal.
He wrapped up his strong meet by winning gold also in the under 19s beach flags and sprint - capping off his time in the junior ranks on a high.
Zustovich was just one of the Mollymook team, trained by Dan Robberds, to shine at the Queensland-based event.
Payton Williams claimed third in the open female flags before teaming up with Jack Bridges, Amy Joy and Brock Scrivener to win silver in the open mixed relay- being beaten in a photo finish by Northcliffe.
In the under 17s mixed relay, Amy Joy, Karla Jones, Jake Stewart and Levi Sommers won gold for Mollymook, with Joy, Jones, Alexa Farland and Madison Agnew, also taking out the under 17s female beach relay.
In the under 17 male beach relay, Mollymook's Bailey Sommers, Jake Stewart, Levi Sommers and Ashton Neall finished second to Cronulla, as the club also claimed silver in the under 19s male beach relay with their team of Jack Bridges, Bailey Sommers, Jake Stewart and Levi Sommers.
While brothers Bailey and Levi Sommers teamed up to win silver in the under 17s male 2x1km beach run relay, behind North Bondi siblings Hugh and Thomas Clothier.
The final relay medal went to Mollymook's under 19s female squad of Amy Joy, Alexa Farland, Karla Jones and Madison Agnew, who secured bronze.
Other Mollymook athletes to make their respective finals were Jones (fourth in under 17 female beach flags), Stewart (fifth in under 17 male sprint and sixth in under 17 male beach flags), Scrivener (fifth in open male sprint and ninth in open male beach flags), Bridges (sixth in under 19s male beach flags and seven in under 19s male sprint) and Neall (seventh in under 17 male beach flags and eighth in under 17 male sprint).
While in the relay ranks, the under 19 mixed team of Alexa Farland, Ashton Neall, Madison Agnew and Kai Anderson finished fourth.
Former Mollymook talents Kate Lewis and Melissa Cracroft-Wilson, now with Kurrawa, teamed up with Tahli Devine and Chloe Mannix-Power, to finish sixth in the open female beach relay.
Cracroft-Wilson also finished eighth in the open female beach flags.
These results cap off an extraordinary showing for South Coast clubs at the 2021 titles, including the masters and youth events - in which Kiama Downs' Mischa Boniface claimed fourth in the under 15 female beach flags.