Team SA Hits Hurdle

Dylan Lightfoot was the standout performer for Team SA on Day 3 posting the highest heat tally of Round 2 in the U18 Boys division and then advancing to the last 16 in the Qualifying stream with a victory in his Round 3 heat later in the day.

Max Armstrong and Emma Smith also produced impressive displays with Armstrong maintaining his unbeaten record in Panama and progressing to the last 16 in the U16 Boys while Smith moved into Round 3 of the U18 Girls with a comfortable heat victory.

Those three are the only South Africans still in the Qualifying streams of their respective divisions as the rest of the Team SA members in action all finished third or fourth in their heats and dropped into the grueling Repercharge rounds where anything other than a first or second place finish results in elimination from the event.

Competing in head high glassy waves, Lightfoot started his Round 2 heat with a manoeuvre packed ride that earned him 7.67 out of 10 from the judges and followed that up with an even better ride of 8.33 to control proceedings throughout the encounter and leave his opponents from Brazil, the UK and Argentina scrapping for second place.

The confident 17 year-old from Jeffreys Bay, who clinched the runners-up silver medal in the U16 division of the ISA World junior event in Peru last year and is coming off an outstanding victory in an international event in Australia 10 days ago, followed that up with another dominant showing in Round 3 where a pair of six-point rides gave him the heat victory and a berth in the last 16 of the Qualifying stream.

“Basically [the ISA World Juniors is] two contests,” said Llewellyn Whittaker, coach of Team South Africa. “At the end of the day, we try and pick up their spirits, because obviously losing is a bad feeling, but in this contest they’re fortunate enough to have a Repechage. A lot of other contests it’s immediate elimination, so we try and get their mindset that it’s a new contest, a new opportunity and just take it one heat at a time, one wave at a time.”

After winning an ASP Junior Pro event just weeks prior to coming to Panama, South Africa’s Slade Prestwich was certainly circled as one of the talents to watch in the Boys Under-18s. Unfortunately, he had a uncharacteristically poor showing in Round 1 and found himself in the Repechage. His coaches have helped him to realign any negative thinking that may have rattled his confidence.

“I thought about it last night, and winning a world title is pretty good but I think winning a world title after getting knocked out in the first heat and coming back from the repo sounds better,” said Prestwich, who advanced through two heats today looking much more the threat he was perceived to be. “It kind of gives me a bit of confidence to win it.” There was no easy surfing on Day 4 of competition with surfers competing had extra pressure to put their best surfing on display – today began the first Repecahge heats. If a surfer didn’t find him or herself in the top two when the final horn blasted, they were eliminated from the event.

“I handle the pressure by being relaxed, by thinking about something else, by getting distracted, because it can make you real nervous to think about who you’re competing against, and how the sea is going to behave,” said Lakshmi Camarino (ARG), who advanced in first place through her Repechage heat. “You just have to be relaxed, and trust in yourself and your surfing.”

However, Max Armstrong is storming through the competition, having won his Round 1, 2 and 3 heats to cruise into Round 4, while Benji Brand has also turned heads after winning his Round 1 but has bombed out into the repercharge.

Sarah Baum and Emma Smith have both won their Round 1 heats, while Emma is through to Round 3 after winning her Round 2 heat.

The record number of athletes (303) competing in Panama are the best junior surfers from 31 nations around the world. They are young, and handling the frustration and disappointment of not surfing their best and losing in a heat can be difficult to cope with.

Much as it has since Day 1, the waves at Playa Venao shifted with the incoming tide. The beachbreak wave turned from a closeout into “almost like a Lowers right,” the world-class wave at Trestles in Southern California, according to USA’s Griffin Colapinto. Colapinto won his Repechage heat with a score of 13.27, after battling flu-like symptoms for the past few days.

Besides the Americans, Australia, Brazil, France, Hawaii, Peru and Portugal are still solidly in the running for the Team Gold Medal and qualification the 2013 ISA China Cup. The ISA will invite the top eight finishing nations to compete at Riyue Bay on Hainan Island in China. Each of the seven aforementioned teams still has all of its athletes in contention.

Much like Colapinto, Panama’s Frank Curren had nothing but praise for the conditions on Wednesday afternoon. He advanced in first through his Repechage heat, but fell short in his second heat and was eliminated.

“It’s so much fun out there,” he said. “I wish I could go back out.”

Curren, who’s the son of surf legend Tom Curren, is competing for Panama despite living in California. His mom is Panamanian, and much of Frank’s family on his mothers’ side lives in Panama City, so he’s familiar with many of the waves in the country. Before this event, he didn’t know much about his teammates – but he does now.

“They’re awesome; they’re all super crazy, like loud, but they’re all really funny and they’re super cool to hang out with. They always have the biggest smile on their face even if they lose a heat. They’re just amped because they’re surfing with their friends,” Curren said. “There are a couple of those guys who surf really good and they’re super underrated.”

Surfing action resumes tomorrow morning, April 19, with Girls competition. The event webcast will be live beginning at 7:45am local time (5:45am PST; 1:45pm in London) at www.dakineisawjsc.com/live.