Gunnedah’s Wicks family and their whip-cracking skills are renowned nationwide, but the Wicks have come back from the Sydney Royal Easter Show with their biggest haul yet.
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Steven Wicks said the whipcracking family had “recorded our most successful championship to date”.
Steven and his children Brooke Wicks, Kate Sozou and Daniel Wicks wielded the whips at the most prestigious whip-cracking event in the country, the R. M. Williams Australian Whip-cracking Titles at the show last week.
They were up against competitors from across the country.
Brooke, 19, was crowned Australian Ladies Whip-cracking Champion. In second place was her sister Katie.
Daniel, who is a mine worker when he is not whip-cracking, was crowned the world Bullock Whip Champion for the fourth consecutive year ahead of 28 competitors.
He now holds 15 Australian whip-cracking titles in juvenile, junior and men’s whip-cracking divisions, nine Australian bullock whip titles, and four world bullock titles.
Dad Steven is no mean hand with the whip either. He won his sixth consecutive Australian title in the over 45s division.
The sport is a family tradition for the Wicks family.
Brooke first contested the Australian Whip-crackers and Plaiters’ Association titles at the age of two with her grandfather Bert Wicks, and Daniel has been proficient since the age of six.
“Brooke has been trying to fit in her uni studies with hardly any practice heading into Sydney,” Steven Wicks said.
“She went into the competition feeling very positive to place at the titles.
“To top off the titles, she also placed sixth in the R. M. Williams World Bullock whip title.”
Brooke now holds five Australian titles.
Competitors had to perform 10 routines topped off by a minute of “freestyle”, a task Mr Wicks said could be quite gruelling.
Mr Wicks, who is the president of the Australian Whip-crackers and Plaiters’ Association, said he hoped the unique sport was part of Australia’s heritage and he hoped it would continue for years to come.