SA Champs 2011

Emotions ran high as the best surfers in the country battled it out at SA Champs 2011, with a prevalent atmosphere of tension that culminated in the finals. Conditions varied between contestable waves ... and a lack of waves.

Border took the prize for the best team spirit. They also happened to win the event ... again, the second time in as many years. Greg Emslie remained unbeaten throughout the event. You don't get more emphatic than that. Greg won the Men´s Open Division, cashing in on the R 15,000 prize. The Woman´s Division was taken out by Nikita Robb (Border). Girls U20 was won by Sarah Baum (KZN) and Nick Godfrey (WP) took out the U20 boys.

(Get the official press release here and slideshow of the final day here)

Something interesting which very few people noticed, was the presence of a large predatory fish in the the lineup. It was in the last part of the first Ladies Open semi-final heat, when Jess Matthews from EP paddled for a wave. A large shark swam in the opposite direction in the same wave she paddled for, but it looked like it was not interested in any of the ladies in the water. The photographic opportunity was gone by the time I realized what I saw. Nobody else seemed to notice anything.

The rest of the heats whooshed by pretty fast, and it was during the finals that I had the opportunity to shoot from the water. Having seen a shark earlier, I took a while to calm down and focus on the task at hand, and ended up staying in the water till the contest concluded while a friend, Brandon, operated the bazooka from the shore in the meantime.

Being out there with the contestants, gave me an entire new perspective on the event. I could also see what the crowd looked like from the water. I heard the announcements from the commentators which was often distorted by infrequent gusts of wind and the sound of vuvuzelas, whistling and cheering. Most notably though, I was close enough to see the facial expressions that varied from frustration, embarrassment, amusement and anger to pure joy and ecstasy. One thing I always wondered, was what people talk about when they are out there. Conversations varied from where they are going to sit, to the lack of surf or congratulating each other on previous waves. In calmer moments, a nod or a smile was exchanged, but when it came down to the battle, facial expressions were evident of intense concentration and focus.

The Men´s Open and Boys U20 were fast moving heats, (when the waves came) and I had to swim hard and duck a couple of times to stay out of the way. In the Men´s Final with Greg being from the older more experienced crowd, saw his wisdom applied when soon after the heat started, he positioned himself closer to full-stop to catch some of the wider breaking waves. I believe this was because he saw that the waves weren't big enough and decided to rather sit where he knew the surf would peak over the boulders.

With not too many photographic opportunities during that heat due to my positioning and lack of waves, I did at least have a moment with Greg when he realized that he won the event. He paddled over to me and asked what happened because he though Brandon´s one ride (all the way to the beach break) put him in first place. Greg was under the impression that Brandon beat him, until it was confirmed when the final scores came through that he himself was in fact the new South African Champion. The above photo was taken moments after that.

When Greg gave his speech, his countenance changed when he spoke about the next generation of surfers and it was clear that his true passion lays in developing the next generation.

As you are reading this, members of the South African Surfing Team are already in mid air or somewhere between connecting flights on their way to Peru for the World Championships. In my minds eye I can see how they are sitting in an aeroplane with the sound of humming turbines somewhere over the Atlantic. Maybe they are replaying what happened during this weekend those waves they missed or got, or wondering how they will live up to the expectation of representing our country, South Africa.

With guys like Greg fostering the next generation of surfers, we are definitely going to see more world champions and world class sportsmen and woman from from this bright corner of Africa.

Well done guys and gals, you do us proud! (And remember to vote!)