Oceanside Cook Book

Team captain Shane Sykes led the way as seven of the eight SA team members in action on the day advanced directly to Round 2 of the Main Event in the world’s biggest junior surfing event, which ran through 30 heats in each of U18 and U16 boys’ divisions.

Competing in the U18 boys’ on the South side of the Oceanside Pier, Sykes set the bar for the team as early as the second heat of the event when he won his closely fought Round 1 heat. He progressed along with heat runner-up, Luis Perloiro from Portugal, as they relegated their third and fourth placed opponents from Belgium and Denmark to the grueling Repercharge Rounds.

Teammates Ntando Msibi and Richard Kidd racked up narrow victories before Michael Monk, competing in the last heat of the day, made it a clean sweep of opening day heat wins for SA’s U18 boys.

Sebastian Williams, contesting the U16 boys’ division in great waves on the North side of the pier, delivered the standout performance for the team. Having grown up in California and Mexico before relocating to South Africa, Williams was in tune with the waves on offer and used his wide repertoire of manoeuvres to earn scores of 8.43 (the third highest of the day) and 7.50 for a two-wave heat tally of 15.93, the fourth highest in all 60 heats run on Day 1.

Fellow SA U16s Luke Malherbe and Adin Masencamp finished comfortably in second place behind their respective Portuguese rivals to remain in the main event. Joshe Faulkner was the only SA team member to drop into the Repecharge Rounds when he slipped to third place in his opening encounter. The tenacious teenager from Jeffreys Bay will being doing his utmost to post first or second place finishes in 10 consecutive heats to reach the Grand Final of the U16 boys division.

Logan Bediamol from Hawaii recorded the highest ride score (9.67) and heat total (17.87) in the U16 boys as the defending ISA World Junior Team champions took eight from eight heat victories in their bid to secure back-to-back team gold and the prestigious world champion trophy.

Rolf Brusso from Norway, the newest ISA Member Nation was stoked at the chance to surf - it was the first time he has ever surfed in a competition.

“The journey has been amazing. We all gathered here in Oceanside and get to see everyone performing in warm water and thin suits. I’ve never surfed in a competition before, but it’s amazing to surf with all these other great nations. Everyone is shredding and there is great unity and vibes among all of us.”

In Boys U-16, Hawaii’s Logan Bediamol earned the highest heat total, leading the Hawaiian dominance on Day 1 of competition. With a score of 17.87, Bediamol will advance to the next round along with Barbados’s Zander Valencia (8.67), whereas Germany’s Jonas Seitz (3.63) will move onto the Repechage Round.

ISA President, Fernando Aguerre, commented on the commencement of competition.

“It’s incredible to see all 36 National Delegations cheering on their athletes on the beach and waving their country flags. You can feel the energy coming from this record amount of competing surfers. With the high level of Surfing we witnessed today, the tone of the competition has been set and the bar has been raised for the week to come.”

The 2015 VISSLA ISA World Junior Surfing Championship is a double elimination competition, with the first two surfers always advancing to the next Qualifying Round. Surfers in third and fourth place move into the Repechage Round, giving them one more chance to advance.

For a full list of today’s results, click here: http://isaworlds.com/juniors/en/results/

The 2015 VISSLA ISA World Junior Surfing Championship will resume today 7am Californian time. The schedule follows (all times ZA):

South Podium:
1pm – 2 heats Boys U-18 Main Event Round 1
1:40pm – 16 heats Girls U-18 Main Event Round 1
6pm – 11pm – 12 heats Girls U-16 Main Event Round 1

North Podium
1am – 2 heats Boys U-16 Main Event Round 1
1:40pm – 16 heats Boys U-18 Main Event Round 2
6pm- 11pm – 12 heats Boys U-16 Main Event Round 2

For live action, photos, videos, news and event info, visit: www.ISAworlds.com

Other ways to follow the South African Junior Team’s progress include :
Daily releases :  www.surfingsouthafrica.co.za
Surfing  South Africa Facebook page:  http://on.fb.me/1Gw6ytp
2015 SA Junior Surfing Team website:  http://www.surfingsouthafricateams.co.za
2015 SA Junior Surfing Team  Facebook page:  http://on.fb.me/1Lg8M1Q

2015 SA Junior Surfing Team

Under 18 Boys
Michael Monk (East London)
Shane Sykes (Salt Rock)
Ntando Msibi (Durban)
Richard Kidd (Ballito)
 
Under 18 Girls
Teal Hogg (Umhlanga)
Chanelle Botha (Warner Beach) are the two in the team.
 
Under 16 Boys
Adin Masencamp (Strand)
Joshe Faulkner (Jeffreys Bay)
Sebastian Williams (Jeffreys Bay)
Luke Malherbe (East London)
 
Under 16 Girls
Sophie Bell (Umdloti)
Olivia Izzard (La Lucia)
 
Manager
Isaac February (Kommetjie)
 
Coaches
Greg Emslie (East London)
David Malherbe (Coffee Bay)

Surfing South Africa is the recognised governing body for the sport and is a member of the South African Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee (SASCOC) and the International Surfing Association (ISA). All South African surfing teams that participate in international events are ratified by the Board of Directors of Surfing South Africa.