2025 Australian U17 Ironwoman, Board and Swim Champion.
A gold in the U17 Taplin Relay, a silver in the U17 individual Ski and a bronze in the U17 Board Relay.
Her results speak for themselves. Nothing more really needs to be written.
But in her own words, Race One’s Katy Ree’s summed up her Aussies campaign with a simple:
‘WOW!’
And WOW it was!
Amid year 11, navigating the tough balance between sport, family and friends, 16 year-old Katy works hard to ride a wave of success across all aspects of her life.
“It meant everything to me to achieve these results at Aussies,” she said.
“You put in the effort all season, and to come away with the results that I did, I couldn’t be more grateful!”
Although she acquired three individual Australian Titles, the highlight of Katys incredible Aussies was taking home the U17 Australian Taplin Relay Title with two friends from their beloved club, Swansea Belmont.
Setting up the Swansea Belmont girls on her Race One Board, Katy and her team fought right until the line in one of the weeks closest sprint finishes!
“It was a crazy race!” Katy said elated. “My friend, Dani, ended up breaking her foot to win that race for us!”
Our surf sports racing calendar is a long one. And like all goals pursued, there can be ebbs and flows of training and motivation.
For Katy, Swansea Belmont Surf Lifesaving Club and her training partners are what keep her motivated and inspired to continue working hard, chasing success.
“You obviously go through stages where you find it harder to wake up, or you aren’t enjoying training,” she explained.
“But I just remember that I have such a good group of girls that I train with, and that makes it easy to get up every morning to go swimming and to go to training each afternoon. “
There is such great support, and all the friendships just make it so enjoyable!”
Despite juggling Year 11, the pressures of assessments and the slow build back into training for the 2025/26 season, Katy’s key to success are two easy rules.
“I’m making sure I am very organised, and ensuring to keep a balance between social, family, school and training,” she said.
“That balance is super important for me!” With her three Australian Titles now added to the long list of accomplishments Katy has already achieved, there is no denying the excitement in her voice when she spoke of the future.
“I'm going to improve my running and strength,” she basically sang.
“I want to get to the next level to be able to stick with those Open women.” As her excitement lifted with the growing conversation around the 2025/26 Surf Sports calendar, a commitment to the Shaw and Partners Coolangatta Gold, and a clear set of goals envisioned, Katy renowned smile could be felt through the phone line.
Carrying her Race One Ski under one arm, her Race One Board under the other, Katy Ree’s future is looking beautiful, bright and bold as she endeavours to go bigger and better than the season before.