Snazzy SA Blow Up

We embarked on an hour and a half long bumpy bus ride to a little town. All the countries lined up and we began marching along the streets in light rain with the drums and trumpets playing. Thousands of Nicaraguans lined the streets and cheered. Us South Africans looked snazzy in our green blazers blasting our Vuvuzelas.

The ceremony began and I had the privilege of being the flag bearer as Dylan poured our sand from Supertubes during the sands ceremony. We were treated to performances, dances, music and speeches.

All in all it was a truly festive evening. The Dakine ISA World Junior Surfing Championship presented by Billabong started with a bang.

Day 1 of the contest presented some shifty, shreddable and sometimes tricky conditions. The waves vary greatly on the tide and most definitely favors the mid and high tides.  Team SA claimed a spot on the stage set up for the teams and then shuffled back and forth between podiums showing amazing support for every heat.

Steffen Burrows was our first Zaffa and first heat of the u/16. He had this misfortune of surfing on the dead low and waves were very few and far between. He had us biting our nails down to the last minute after catching his first ride with 7mins to go and securing a 2nd with no time to spare.

Up next was Dyl Lightfoot who dominated his heat with two high, polished scores thank you very much. 1st place to Mr Lightfoot.

Josh Smit then surfed a really good heat with a solid score on both his forehand and backhand, coming 2nd to USA.

Diran Zak fit right in on the running lefts and rights. A couple of airs and stylish carves later he advanced with a close 2nd.

Jordy Maree surfed an incredible with heat throwing some big scores and spray. He very quickly became a standout in the U/16 division after winning his heat.

Benji Brand got 2 quick scores then dropped and 8.5 ride after destroying a wave on his backhand and was our 3rd win of the day.

Matty McG had an unlucky heat and very narrowly came 3rd. The  right waves just didn't come his way but we have no doubt that he will come back strong and advance all the way through.

Shane Sykes was our last surfer at 5:20. He was a stylish, efficient and powerful as always and was leading until he was just bumped into 2nd by Mr Portugal.

It was a long, tough day in the scorching heat but a very very good day indeed. It is evident that SA is a big standout. We moved and grooved as a team. Support was on form and spirits are high. Today presented some really amaaazing waves and tomorrow looks to be the same. Every country feels threatened by our Vuvuzelas and surfers.

Tomorrow the u/16 boys start us off at podium 1 followed by the u/18 boys and the u/16 gals start off at podium 2 followed by the u/18 girls.

Looking forward to another good day!