Wipeout Dementia’s 7th Round Raises $86,000

HEIDI DOUGLASS | h.douglass@unsw.edu.au

A group of Sydney’s senior executives, which included Warringah Federal Liberal MP Tony Abbott, competed in ‘Wipeout Dementia’ at Queenscliff beach on Saturday to raise funds for research at the Centre for Healthy Brain Ageing (CHeBA), UNSW Sydney.

Spokesman for The Dementia Momentum and Wipeout Dementia Ambassador, Richard Grellman AM (Chairman of IPH Limited, AMP Foundation and former Chairman of the Association of Surfing Professionals (International) Limited), announced that the May 2018 event sponsored by Morgans Financial, Kennards Hire, Cunninghams and Colliers International Residential, raised $86,000 for CHeBA’s research. 

Mr Grellman, whose wife Suellen has advanced young onset Alzheimer’s disease aged just 67 said he was encouraged by the sustained attention Wipeout Dementia had generated over three years.

“The need to address the extraordinary challenge posed by dementia is not diminishing and I applaud all individuals and companies who have contributed to making Wipeout Dementia such a success,” he said.

This was the seventh Wipeout Dementia run by CHeBA which aims to increase general understanding about risk reduction of dementia as well as the critical need for increased investment in research toward prevention of Alzheimer’s and other dementias. 

The May 2018 event brought together 24 corporate surfers, many of them CEOs and Managing Directors, in a bid to change the future of dementia incidence. 

Reigning champions ‘Cunningham’s Cruisers’ were determined to hold onto the trophy and did so with a clear win on the scoreboard for the May 2018 team title.   Captain John Cunningham said it was a privilege to be involved as both surfer and an event sponsor and he urged more people to get on board and thanked his team members for their efforts. 

For the first time in Wipeout history a finals contest was held with the highest wave scorers from each team – Chris Clarke of Grellman’s Evergreens, Benjamin Freeman of Cunningham’s Cruisers and Rob Gillespie of Gillespie’s Grommets Forever heading back to the waves for the ultimate finals surf off.  In a tremendous display of ability it was team captain Rob Gillespie that stole the glory and took home the inaugural Wipeout Dementia Champion award.

Ambassador and 1978 World Surfing Champion Wayne ‘Rabbit’ Bartholomew AM congratulated Cunningham’s Cruisers and Rob Gillespie for their wins and thanked all participants for their enthusiasm and involvement. 

A custom Gerry Lopez ‘Gnarly Award’ for highest fundraiser was taken by Mark Gross, Executive Director Corporate Advisory of sponsor Morgans, who raised over $12,500 in the event and has raised close to $40,000 over four events. 

Special thanks go to Simon Liddy who was the other top fundraiser of this round of Wipeout Dementia; raising over $11,000.  

A number of other awards were announced on the day including the prestigious peer-vote ‘Player’s Player’ which was awarded to Morgan Hill who raised over $6,000 for the cause.

Most Valuable Player awards this year went to Ian Wright for Grellman’s Evergreens, Simon Liddy for Gillespie’s Grommets Forever and first female to surf in the event at Queenscliff Alexandra Kent for Cunningham’s Cruisers.

With the longest ride of the day and an extraordinary drop-in effort on a fellow competitor saw fan favourite Richard Grellman take home ‘Wave of the Day’ and in an impressive display of core stability it was Cruiser’s member Benjamin Freeman that took home the Sandler Easy Steps Longboard Award.

CHeBA Co-Director and specialist physician to Richard’s wife Suellen, Professor Henry Brodaty, expressed his gratitude to Richard Grellman and all regular and new surfers for their incredible and generous support.

“My fellow director Professor Perminder Sachdev and all the team at CHeBA are dogged in our determination to discover risk factors for and protective factors against cognitive decline with ageing, ways to prevent or stave off the onset of dementia, more accurate ways to diagnose Alzheimer’s and other dementias, as well as better care models for people with dementia,” said Professor Brodaty.

Morgans and Kennards Hire are the major sponsors for Wipeout Dementia May 2017.  Cunninghams and Colliers International Residential are secondary sponsors.

Hurley and Queenscliff Surf Lifesaving Club provided in-kind support.  

Judging was conducted by Global Surf Tag.

Photography by Surf Photos of You.  

To surf in or sponsor Wipeout Dementia please contact Heidi Douglass.

For more information about the Centre for Healthy Brain Ageing (CHeBA), visit www.cheba.unsw.edu.au.

Participants in the May 2018 Wipeout Dementia contest were:

Photo gallery

Visit the Wipeout Dementia May 2018 Photo Gallery

MEDIA CONTACT:
Heidi Douglass | h.douglass@unsw.edu.au | 0435 579 202 | (02) 9382 3398