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Best Junior Surfers of the World hit the water
May 25th 2008
An epic opening day of competition has been completed at Seignosse Le Penon,
SW France. Perfect 3-4ft (1-1.5m) conditions allowed for great heats to run
on both podiums all day long. The world’s best junior surfers revelled in
ideal conditions.
The main podium ran U18 heats on a perfect right-hand sandbank, which at
times provided 150-200m rides. Standouts included DC team rider Marc
Lacomare who tore apart a couple of right-handers to post a 15.9 heat score.
He said, ‘ I feel good, my boards feel good. I’m at home, all my friends are
here so I hope to do well. The French team are here to win but it will be
really hard with the countries like Australia and Hawaii. It’s going to be
hard to beat them but we will do our best.’
South African surfer Shaun Joubert posted an 18-point heat and could afford
to throw away a 7.5 and an 8.47. He seemed quite at home ‘I live at a right
hand point, and the waves were turning on out there so I felt like I was at
home. The weather is good, the water is warm, I couldn’t ask for anything
better. I was feeling pretty good before the heat, but starting off with a
good heat obviously helps. There are lots of good surfers so I will just see
how I go.’ Talking about team South Africa’s chances ‘We have definitely got
a really strong team this year, so if all the boys and girls do well we will
hopefully be up there with Australia, Brazil and America.’
The U16 podium just a short walk south along the glorious Landes beach, ran
on another great peak. It was predominantly a left, which at times also
provided perfect 200m rides throughout the day. Jonathan Hicks from New
Zealand posted 18 points on the judges’ score sheets with his best two waves,
stringing together a series of large turns. For those surfers who didn’t
perform so well today they will all get a second chance to surf in the
repercharge round, from which they will still have the opportunity to re-qualify
for the finals.
The Quiksilver ISA World Junior Games prides itself on bringing the Olympic
sprit to the surfing world. Senegal brought a team to compete with the rest
of the world for the first time in its history. The beauty of the event is
that it allows the developing nations of the surfing world to pitch their
skills against the best surfers from traditionally strong nations like
Australia, Brazil, Hawaii, New Zealand and USA.
Perhaps one of the less renowned nations will produce a giant-killing
performance in the coming days to upset the applecart. In this sort of event
anything is possible. Young Nicolaus Von Rupp from Germany, took out surfers
from Brazil and the UK. This is his last year in the event as he turns 18 in
August. He has fond memories of the contest. ‘I love it, the whole parade
and stuff. I used to parade the German flag myself at some contests, some
surfers from Germany surf a river wave in Munich and rarely get to surf in
the ocean.’ Nicolaus surfs in Portugal so has a taste of quality waves and
is looking to finish high in the event. ‘I would love to make the final. I
placed 5th in the U21’s at the Narrabeen World Juniors so I want to go up
from there! Owen Wright is amazing this year so he is one to beat.’
France has provided excellent conditions today. Despite contrary weather
reports, the sun split the clouds, the wind stayed offshore and the crowds
lined the beach to watch the action. The French Beach breaks produced
perfect competition conditions and some great showcase surfing alongside a
couple of surprise upsets. Forecasts remain positive for some more quality
surf for the rest of the week. We look forward to more action starting at
8am local time tomorrow.
The Senegal team summed up the spirit of the day best. Even though they will
be competing in the repercharge round of the competition, they are of the
opinion that just by making the journey here and taking part they are
already winners. More winners will be in action tomorrow.
Gabe Davies
For live webcasts of the event check out;
www.quiksilver.com
Or via www.isasurf.org or
www.isaworldchamp.com
PHOTOS
High quality images of today’s surfing and each day’s events will be
available for worldwide press use at:
www.quiksilver-press.com
Login: pressroom / password: quiksilverpress
VIDEO
Daily high-resolution video sequences will be available on a dedicated FTP
server.
http://inside-media.fr/isa2008
A 3-minute sequence of today’s highlights will be available from 8pm.
About International Surfing Association (ISA):
The International Surfing Association (ISA) is recognized by the
International Olympic Committee (IOC) as the World Governing Authority for
surfing, bodyboarding and surfriding. It was originally founded as the
International Surfing Federation in 1964 and has been running world
championships since 1964 and the Junior World Championships since 1980.
ISA membership includes the surfing National Governing Bodies (NGBs) of over
50 countries on six continents. Its headquarters are located in San Diego,
California. It is presided by Fernando Aguerre, first elected in 1994 in Rio,
and re-elected six times since. The ISA's four Vice Presidents are Alan
Atkins (Australia), Robin de Kock (South Africa), Maile Aguerre (Hawaii) and
Mike Gerard (USA).
