Pumping Punta Rocas Delivers Powerful Performances on Day 2 of the 2025 ISA World Junior Surfing Championship

Bailey Turner (USA) and Will Deane (USA) Set the Pace for Team USA With Excellent Numbers
Momentum Builds for New Zealand as Alexis Owen (NZL) Sets the Benchmark in U/18 Boys
Eeli Timperi (FIN) Opens Final WJSC Appearance in Commanding Form
Manoa Tarroux (VAN) Claims Historic First ISA Heat Win for Vanuatu

Punta Rocas, Peru – December 7, 2025

Solid six-to-eight-foot lines rolled into Punta Rocas to open Day 2 of the 2025 ISA World Junior Surfing Championship (WJSC), lighting up both the main peak and the inside left of El Bosque. Main Round 1 was completed in both U/18 girls and U/16 boys, with the first 22 heats of U/18 boys and 19 heats of U/16 girls also taking place.

Debuting in the U/18 girls division yesterday in her third ISA WJSC appearance, 14-year-old Miliani Simon (TAH) posted one of the highest single-wave scores of the round. Today, Simon claimed the first excellent score of the U/16 girls, an 8.00, for a critical backhand two-turn combo on a wave at least double overhead for her. Improving her placing each year so far, Simon is aiming to go much deeper in the event in 2025.

“I’m really excited to surf in Peru and do both divisions,” Simon said. “I felt really good. I was super stoked for my wave and I wanted to have a good backup score. I’m really happy to have this team. We’re all really close and we support each other.

Peruvian medal hopeful Catalina Zariquiey (PER) followed with a strong opening performance of her own. But the only surfer to top Simon’s scores in the round was USA’s Bailey Turner (USA), whose 14.83 heat total included the highest single-wave score for the U/16 girls, an 8.10. Though consistently placing on the podium, including taking silver in 2023, USA haven’t won the Team World Championship since 2019, a fact that Team Captain Will Deane (USA) is hoping to help change in 2025. Deane opened his third and final ISA World Junior campaign with a statement-making 16.00 excellent heat total. The North Carolinian unleashed aggressive laybacks, driving power turns, and even an alley-oop to post an 8.50 and 7.50 in one of the standout performances of the division.

“I’ve been loving the wave, I’ve been here about a week,” Deane said. “It’s definitely been tricky getting it dialed, but I feel like I’m figuring it out and I feel really good. Our team’s amazing, everyone’s been super supportive and the vibes are really good, so I’m excited to keep it going. This is my third ISA and the last two I feel like I put a lot of pressure on myself and didn’t do as good as I hoped, so this year I feel like I’m letting go. Hopefully I make it far. Our team’s amazing, everyone’s surfing really good. We’re going for gold.”

Claiming wins across the board on opening day courtesy of Avery McDonald (USA), Brody Price (USA), Lanea Mons (USA), and Makai Castle (USA), USA continued strong today. While nerves got the better of Cash Souter (USA), Kylie Pulcini (USA) and Victoria Duprat (USA) also joined Deane and Turner in claiming solid heat wins.

Momentum Builds for New Zealand as Alexis Owen (NZL) Sets the Benchmark in U/18 Boys

In 2024, Alexis Owen (NZL) became the first Kiwi boy to win an ISA World Junior medal in over 15 years when he claimed the U/16 copper. Owen kicked off his first U/18 campaign with the highest single wave score of the day, an 8.67. Sticking to the same fundamentals that brought him success in El Salvador, Owen matched power-for-power with Punta Rocas. U/18 boys remains the sole division that hasn’t seen a Kiwi on the podium, leaving Owen primed to claim a historic first for his nation.

“You always come to a comp to win, you don’t do a competition if you expect to lose,” Owen said. “I was trying to sit a bit underneath because the best ones are those mid-sized ones, and that’s what I coordinated with my coach, and it worked. That bomb, the 8.67, came straight to me and I surfed it good, so I was stoked. To be honest, when I was coming to Peru, I thought it was going to be like El Salvador, a real tropical, interesting place, but it’s so sick. It’s just dry, but the waves are so pumping, perfect point breaks, non-stop waves, all you can ask for.”

Following the progression of Leia Millar (NZL) and Vitor Bauermann (NZL) in concurrent heats yesterday, Lola Groube (NZL) earned one of the highest heat totals of U/18 girls to move into Main Round 2 along with her older sister, Chloe Groube (NZL), from the same heat. Meanwhile, Benji Lowen (NZL) and Luca Thompson (NZL) also advanced together in boys U/16. In the final heat of the day, Alani Morse (NZL) and Poppy Arkle (NZL) secured a position in Main Round 2 alongside Brisa Canina (NZL).

Eeli Timperi (FIN) Opens Final WJSC Appearance in Commanding Form

In 2022, Eeli Timperi (FIN) and Lukas McMahon (FIN) made up the first-ever Finnish team to compete in the WJSC, while Timperi appeared as the sole representative for his nation’s debut in that year’s World Surfing Games as a 15-year-old. Now 18, Timperi has steadily built on his results across the six ISA events he has competed in, but today delivered his finest performance yet as he appears in his final WJSC. Opening with an excellent 8.50, Timperi quickly added a 7.83 to hold a 16.33 heat total, the highest of the division so far, leaving his fellow three competitors, including new teammate Joakim Bjorck (FIN), in combination.

“I was able to find the first good one and then lucked into a good second one right after. It stood up for me, and I was stoked to show my surfing,” Timperi said. “I’ve been doing these ISAs for a long time now, not my first time here, that’s for sure. I’m happy I was able to keep it going and keep the pressure off today. This event is so special to me and to everyone who surfs here. If you have the opportunity to surf in these events, I would definitely give it a go. It’s like no other.”

Manoa Tarroux (VAN) Claims Historic First ISA Heat Win for Vanuatu

In the final heat of the day, Vanuatu’s Manoa Tarroux (VAN) claimed a historic first-ever ISA heat win for his nation. Encouraged by the ISA Oceania Youth Development Program held in Fiji earlier this year, the South Pacific island nation made their World Surfing Games debut in September, where Tarroux also competed. Having also progressed in the U/16 division, the 16-year-old was excited to keep the ball rolling as he turned heads in Peru.

“I’m very happy to win,” Tarroux said. “It’s a lot of training and work to do this competition, so I’m very happy it pays off and to be here in Peru representing Vanuatu. Our waves in Vanuatu are really sick, mostly reefs, really slabby, long rides and close to the shore, so you can surf every day, especially in summer when it’s always glassy. I think it’s just about getting some money in Vanuatu to have boards for the Vanuatu Surfing Association. I hope we can get more boards so people who don’t have much money can surf every day and continue working on this.”

Competition will continue tomorrow, Monday, December 8, at 7:00 a.m. PET with the continuation of U/18 boys Main Round 1 at Punta Rocas and U/16 girls Main Round 1 at El Bosque.