| ENGLISH | SPANISH | FRENCH |
A day of high tension at the Quiksliver ISA World Junior Championships ISA 2008.
Quiksilver ISA World Junior Surfing Championship
May 28, 2008
Plage du Penon, Seignosse, Francia
Since Sunday 25th May, 28 nations and nearly 300 of the world’s best under
18 surfers have gathered at the beaches of Seignosse in order to win the
Quiksilver ISA Junior Championship. After 2 intense days of competition the
first rounds of the contest have been completed in the U16 and U18 boys and
girls divisions. The time is now critical, as the elimination stages have
begun.
This evening certain surfers are already out of the competition, but each
has had to lose at least two heats before getting eliminated from the event.
The first heats of the repercharge cadets (U16) were marked by superb group
performance by the Costa Rican team. Four have qualified for the next round
with 3 victories. Also there was a great success from the young Moroccan
surfer Ramzi Boukheim from Agadir. He is a connoisseur of this region’s
beach breaks as he has lived in Anglet (France). He surfed with maturity and
scored the highest score of the repercharge (16.67 points) “It was a big
disappointment not to qualify for the second round. Finally I told myself
that at least I will get some less dangerous opposition in the repercharge
round. Now I feel more self-confident. So I ‘ll do my thing and keep going
as long as possible”
There was a great surprise for young surfer Italian surfer from Rome
Leonardo Fioravanti. At only 10 years old is the youngest surfer in the
event. He has seen high level competition in the Moustic Tour, which was
held on the Landes coast last year. “It’s not me that should be scared, it’s
the bigger surfers who surf against me!” he said laughing
The girls of the French team are progressing well. Junior World Champion
2006, Pauline Ado was not fearful even though she faced a tough heat. Her
team mate Marie Dejean also mounted a convincing win. Alizée Arnaud was
furious when she exited the water; Tyler Wright took the two best waves in
the heat and didn’t leave much for the Hossegor local. The upset will spur
her onwards and will become a motivation for the flamboyant French girl. The
fourth French team member Justine Dupont, who has previously finished 2nd in
the World Longboard division of 2007 finished in 2nd place, behind the
Hawaiian Leila Hurst.
The best score of the day was credited to Sage Erickson who was 3rd in the
Quiksilver ISA World Juniors last year in Portugal. The American showed the
serious ambitions of the team USA by posting 17 points (two 8.5 waves). “To
be in the final is my objective. To surf here with the tide coming in is not
always easy, conditions are always changing here in France, so it’s not easy.
Today I was anxious to get in the water and set a good pace for the team. I
got two good waves in my heat and got two solid scores, so I’m glad the
judges liked them. I made a few great cut backs and good turns.”
To end the day, the first round of U18 repercharges was marked by an easy
win for Frenchman Charlie Martin after he suffered a defeat in an earlier
round. Charlie, from Guadeloupe surfs for the French team but has used up
all his chances. He remains one of the favourites of the event.
Tomorrow at 8:00 am the competition will re-start with the longest day of
competition, 67 heats will be held in the two podiums.
Live feeds will run from
www.quiksilver.com
Or via www.isasurf.org or www.isaworldchamp.com
For further info and free high resolution photos, please contact:
Pablo@isasurf.org
PHOTOS
Usage-free high quality images of today’s parade 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 for free usage by TV
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).
