SPRINTER Laurent Stewart made semi-finals in beach sprints and beach flags at last month’s Surf Life Saving Australia Inter-State Championships in Perth, but concedes the sport is more of a hobby for him than a serious pursuit.

Stewart is more dedicated to track sprinting and sees beach sprints as more fun than anything else, despite reaching national level.

The 26-year-old moved from Cronulla to Orange last July for work, so his training on the sand has been limited.

“This is my second summer that I’ve done it (surf life saving), and it started out as a hobby and then last year I transferred clubs. People didn’t like it and they got up me about it, so I took it a bit more seriously this year and I got back at them,” Stewart said.

“The training for beach usually happens over summer and it’s only once a week usually.

“Whenever I get back to Sydney on a weekend I go down to the local beach or the local sand hills and just do a few flag turns.

“It’s not my serious training, it’s just sort of a technique thing.

“I went over to Perth with the fastest PB time over 100m and if I could run a bit better on sand than I did, I probably would have come away with a gold medal.”

Stewart is content with his results in Perth, but wonders what could have been had he received a better draw.

“I came up with a couple of semis and I think I let it get to me,” he said.

“In the flags, if you line up, they just draw the lanes at random as you walk back ... and every single time, I had 12 turns and I drew six next to Simon Harris, who is the guy that won it, and the last six were next to Paul Cracroft-Wilson, who is the guy who finished second.

“Neither of which anybody has knocked out for the last eight years, they have been first or second for the last eight years.

“It was just a really frustrating situation.”

Stewart is more dedicated to track sprinting, though, and regularly travels down to Sydney to train with coach, Emil Rizk, who used to train top Australian sprinter Josh Ross.

He has the goal to run in the 100m and 200m at the 2012 London Olympics and has set himself short-term targets in a bid to reach the Olympics.

“Stepping stones is to go from running the 10.50 (for the 100m) that I run now to getting down to run a 10.20, 10.30 next year, which will get me into a national final,” Stewart said.

“This year’s national final was won in 10.35, you shouldn’t be able to win a national title in 10.35.

“So a national final next year (is the goal), the year after just start running A-qualifiers, which is sub-10.2, and then just be consistent at that level.”

Stewart works as an engineer in Orange and travels to Sydney to train with Rizk, as he feels he has the knowledge to cut his times.

The 26-year-old does his own training in Orange, predominantly at Waratah Sportsground, and while he enjoys the conditions he has to utilise in th Colour City, he knows it would be better to have more time with Rizk.

“I do a fair bit of training, but it’s good though because it’s all grass,” Stewart said.

“I haven’t had any hamstring injuries or anything like that the whole summer because everything is on the grass, whereas on the track, you have shin problems and hip problems, so it’s just a lot of starts and plyometrics.

“(Emil’s) a pretty intense coach. He can give me a program, but I lack all of the feedback.

“He’s very instinctive and he doesn’t get to see things.”

Stewart is looking to head to Queensland later in the year, where he hopes to run against Australia’s top sprinters at the national championships.