State title wins ideal way for junior doctor to wrap up surf season

Warrnambool-raised Alana Johnson is unavailable for the Gold Coast-based competition in April with work commitments as a junior doctor in Melbourne taking priority.

Alana, 24, will instead throw her support behind her Warrnambool Surf Life Saving Club teammates including younger sister and teaching student Ellie, 22.

The siblings teamed up to snare two gold medals at the Victorian titles on March 23-24, winning the open women's double ski and the open women's ski relay with in-form competitor Mia Cook.

"It was good fun to do that with my sister, very special," Alana said.

"Over the weekend we won the double ski together and we won that one last year as well so it's pretty special to win it back-to-back and even in under 19s a few years ago we were paddling double ski together."

Ellie combined with Cook and Georgia Ierodiaconou to win the open women's board relay too.

Alana, who has lived in Melbourne for the past six years for work and study, would love to become a GP one day.

She is focusing on career progression - currently at a public hospital in the city as a second-year junior doctor - and will miss 'the Aussies' but is bullish about her clubmates' prospects, particularly Ellie.

"It will be really interesting to see how she goes because she's definitely put a lot of work into it, so hopefully it will pay off and she'll get some good results," Alana said.

"I know she's hoping to make some finals. It will be a bit of a challenge because she's up in the open age group now so she'll be (against) a lot of the professional athletes."

Surf life saving and kayaking are two outlets from her hectic career Alana enjoys and she remains well connected to her home town.

"A big part of it for me is the community and the friends that it brings," she said.

"It's nice to get outside of that work bubble. You do see the good, the bad and the ugly (with surf life saving) when it's 6am and you've just rolled out of bed to go and train.

"But getting out on the ocean and being out in nature, it does really clear the head."

Alana, who spends as much time in Warrnambool as she can, loves being a part of the club environment.

"I am pretty grateful for all the support the Warrnambool surf club has offered and there's lots of really dedicated people in the club which enables us to compete, so people like John Cook and Jackson Fary have really given a lot to the club," she said.

Cook - named open athlete of the meet - also won the open women's board and ironwoman as well as the under 19 board, ski and ironwoman at the state titles as she strives to reach her long-term goal of becoming a professional ironwoman.

Fellow Warrnambool competitors Steve Kerr, Paddy O'Brien and Isaac Owen joined forces to win the men's board relay while Riley Shiell and Kai Moloney teamed up for gold in the youth men's board rescue.

Moloney also won the under 15 surf race.