Lifesaver dies in competition

 A 19-year-old champion surf lifesaver has died after being hit by his own ski while competing in rough conditions off the Gold Coast.

Sydney-based surf lifesaver Saxon Bird got into difficulties off Kurrawa Beach while competing in the under-19 ironman event at the Australian Surf Life Saving Championships.

He is the second person to die in the championship's history.

Paramedics tried to resuscitate Bird and continued CPR while he was taken to Gold Coast Hospital by ambulance.

"But he died in hospital on Friday afternoon," officials said.

The teenager's surf ski washed onto the beach around 11.30am (AEST).

After an air and sea search of a one-kilometre section of the beach, Bird was found by a fellow lifesaver less than an hour later.

"It is believed that Saxon got into difficulties and subsequently fell from his craft 150-metre from the beach," a Surf Life Saving official said.

Officials told AAP they understood Bird's surf ski hit him in the head, knocking him out.

The championships has been suspended and a decision will be made by Saturday morning on whether it will continue.

A strong rip is running along the water's edge, about 10 metres out from the sand, with waves between 1.5 and two metres.

Organisers deemed conditions at Kurrawa safe enough to go ahead with the event on Friday, despite two people being injured in rough conditions at the surf carnival this week.

Cyclone Ului is whipping up rough conditions along the Queensland coast.

Bird, from Denistone, in Sydney's northwest, was representing the Queenscliff Surf Life Saving Club, of which federal Opposition Leader Tony Abbott is a member.

He began as a nipper aged eight and on Friday was described by colleagues as one of surf lifesaving's "rising stars".

He was a member of the NSW surf lifesaving high performance team and has taken a number of national titles over the past four years.

Robert Gatenby, 15, a member of Kurrawa's under-18 boat crew, drowned at the 1996 nationals at the same beach, as Cyclone Beti ravaged the Queensland coast.

The boardwalk fronting the Kurrawa surf clubhouse is named in Gatenby's honour.

Surf Life Saving said officials were working closely with Queensland police to prepare a report on the incident.

Counselling was provided to Bird's family and friends.

- AAP