Australia triumphant at ISA World Surfing Games
Date posted: 29 March 2004

Australia emerged triumphant at the 2004 ISA World Surfing Games in Salinas, Ecuador, today when the clinched the prestigious IOC President's Trophy and the ISA World Champion Nation title for a record seventh time overall and for the first time since 1998 in Portugal.

The Aussie team also claimed ISA Trophee tag team event and two of the five individual discipline titles when Kira Llewellyn and Andrew Lester won the women and men’s bodyboard crowns respectively.

The other three titles were shared between Tahiti, whose Hira Teriinatoofa earned the premier men’s surfing gold with an exciting blend of high risk manoeuvring, Peru, whose Sofia Mulanovich went through the event unbeaten, and Brazil whose Marcelo Freitas wrapped up a third successive longboard title.

The Australian team, which had representatives in all six finals staged today, accumulated 16 554 points from their 10 person squad, 2 272 points ahead of second placed Brazil, with defending champions South Africa another 1025 points back in third position and only 97 points ahead of fourth placed Peru whose result was their best ever.

The crowds that flocked to Playa de le FAE, in an Ecuadorian air force base, for the final day of the nine day 'Olympics' of surfing were treated to world class performances in the excellent if sometimes inconsistent overhead waves that poured through all day. Highlights included the high scoring men’s bodyboard final where three of the top four all notched up more than 17 out of a possible 20, and the tension filled ending to the men’s surfing final.

The men’s final started slowly with only Mark Richardson (Aus) securing a counting ride in the first eight minutes, but came alive midway through when Teriinatoofa caught an overhead wave outside the point and created an outstanding ride that used his entire repertoire of radical manoeuvres to earn 9.33 points from a possible 10, leaving just 2.70 points off Richardson’s lead.

A great exchange of rides with six minutes to go had Teco Padaratz (Brazil) and Richardson both awarded 7.83 for long rides while Sean Holmes (South Africa) received his best score of 6.27 and the Tahitian only 1.33 and now 5.83 off Richardson’s lead.

All except Richardson caught rides in the final minute with Holmes’ 5.10 leaving him in fourth place, while Padaratz completed an exceptional combination of manoeuvres to receive 9.43 and the lead, with just Teriinatoofa’s score to come. After deliberating for some time the judges awarded his last ride 8.0 points, giving the title to the ecstatic Tahitian.

By comparison the women’s surfing final was more clear cut as Mulanovich, the world #7, earned the highest score of the final on her first ride and her lead was never seriously threatened after she received 7.33 for her third ride. The only drama came in the last exchange that ended after the siren had sounded when Julia Christian’s (USA) last ride of 5.60 secured her the silver medal ahead of Andrea Lopez (Brazil) with Sheridan Shields (Aus) not finding any waves offering scoring potential to place fourth.

The longboarding also produced drama in the closing minutes when Jason Ribbink (SAfr), with the single highest scoring ride of the final, snapped his leash attempting a re-entry on an overhead wave and had to swim to the beach to pick up a replacement. This lost him valuable time and with just one minute remaining and needing just 6.16 points, he had only reached the mid break where he turned around and caught his final ride.

Despite completing a number of radical backhand manoeuvres and a long nose ride and ending with a jubilant raising of his arms to roars from the crowd, the judges stuck to their criteria of only rewarding rides from the outside with big scores and scored him 5.57. This left him second to Brazil’s Marcelo Freitas whose two early rides had netted 7.83 and 6.50 and an incredible third successive title.. Josh Constable from Australia clinched the bronze while Antoine Delpero (France) took the copper medal.

The men’s bodyboard final started with a flurry of rides that scored between 6.83 and 8.33 points and set the pattern for the 25-minute heat. Alvaro Padron, fellow Spaniard Yeray Martinez and Andrew Lester (Aus) all led at one stage or another after recording nine plus point rides.

Only defending champion Nicolas Capdeville (France) seemed unable to connect with the long running outside waves and it was eventually Lester’s last ride of 8.83 points that secured him the gold medal, with Martinez taking home the silver and Padron the bronze.

Kira Llewellyn from Australia clinched the gold medal in the women’s bodyboard with a great opening ride that netted her 8.66 points, the highest score of the final, and a 7.33 at the end of the heat. Defending champ Neymara Carvalho took second with two good rides while Marina Taylor Spain placed third ahead of Claire McGowan (UK) who incurred a paddling interference that halved the score of her second ride.

The ISA Trophee tag team event was dominated from the outset by Australia with David Reardon-Smith, their power surfer, entering the water first and racking up three excellent scores. Sasha Stocker followed that up with a 9.17 and the writing was on the wall for the other teams.

South Africa held second place until successive two point rides saw them slip behind Spain, who held on to the silver medal with a strong showing from their women’s surfer. Defending champions New Zealand trailed in fourth needing a combination of waves totalling 11.34 points to win.

The team positions were event high best results for Tahiti in fifth place and Spain who overtook France for sixth place thanks to the results from their men’s bodyboarders. Venezuela went fro 12th in 2002 to 8th this year and Costa Rica from 30th and last two years ago to 9th, just 18 points behind the South Americans.

Ecuador, the host nation, finished a creditable 11th out of the 26 attending nations, just behind the UK, and can be justifiably proud of organising one of the best World Surfing Games to date despite being one of the youngest of the International Surfing Association’s (ISA) member nations.

The 20th gathering of surfing nations enjoyed consistent surf, at times reaching three metres, and received massive support from both public and private institutions in the country, including the influential head of the national Olympic committee, as well as huge media coverage for the sport nationally.
*press release kindly supplied by Life's a Beach Communications
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SA Team ready for 2004 ISA World Surfing Games:
Date Posted: 11 March 2004

The South African Team leaves for the 20th ISA World Games in Ecuador on March 14th and is looking more focussed and determined than ever.

The team consists of some of our finest surfers from all over the country who will be defending their title in the punchy waves of Salinas, the surf-capital of the tiny South American country.

“Winning in 2002 was great because no-one but the team thought we were going to win, so there was no pressure. This year is different but mentally I think we are better prepared even with the added pressure of been the world champions”, says Jason Ribbink, team captain and top longboarder for the SA team.

Ribbink reckons that the team is also physically better prepared than previous years, largely due to the effort and preparation that has been put in over the past months. This includes each team member working with Suzanne Thomas, a personal trainer who has been gruelling the members to be at their physical best, as well as swimming training with Mike Larmont.

Tim Harkness, a renowned sports psychiatrist, has been on board checking heads to make sure that the surfers are mentally prepared for battle and that the pressure doesn’t make anyone crack. The team has also been schooled in the technical aspects of contest surfing by living legend and competitive animal in his day, Bruce Jackson.

Ribbink says they are preparing for all kinds of conditions, but have been focussing on left breaks between four to six foot for the event and just surfing as much as possible. He adds that “the team is very talented from one foot to ten, with loads of experience”.

The Men’s team includes former two time SA Champion, 2000 Red Bull Wave Africa winner and 2002 Billabong Pro quarter finalist, Sean Holmes of Wilderness, 2003 Lost Pro winner Justin Sanders of Jeffreys Bay, Frankie Oberholzer of Warner Beach, who finished 9th on the 2003 PST and former ASP Africa Series champion Shane Thorne of the Bluff, who ended 11th.

2003 SA Masters Champion Andrew Banks of St Michaels and 2003 SA Champion Quintin Jones are the two official reserves in the Men’s Team. Tasha Mentasti of Durban North, who is the former Roxy Wahine Cup champion and ASP World Qualifying Series campaigner,and Sacha Moller of Durban make up the Women’s team, with Sarah Johnston of Warner Beach as reserve. Watch this space for updates as the action unfolds.

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Daniel Redman injured at Pipeline:
Date Posted: 22 February 2004

Honolulu, HAWAII - (Saturday, February 21, 2004) – South African Daniel Redman was airlifted by medi-vac to Queens Medical Center in Honolulu this-morning, after sustaining a wipeout in the first heat of the third day of Hansen's Energy Pro competition. On what turned out to be one of the smaller waves of the day, Redman, 19, took a wipeout during his third round heat and was driven by the crashing lip of a wave onto the reef. Redman sustained various injuries to his head and is currently under observation at the hospital.

“Daniel has a broken left eardrum, stitches above his right eye, a two-inch gash above his right ear and some back pain,” reported South African team-mate Richard Sills, who spent the day at the hospital with 19-year-old Redman.

“He’s very calm and cool and collected, amazingly. He’s remembering bits and pieces of it, but not what exactly happened. "We showed him video of the wave, but he didn't really remember.
(The hospital has) given him the full extent of tests and they’re waiting for results from the CAT scan before they touch the gash above his ear. He’s strapped down in the bed and cannot move, but I think that’s mostly a precautionary measure. He should be OK. They just want to take all the precautions.
”It happened on an average size wave but it was really round and hollow, so it had some power."

The accident happened mid-way during his 22-minute heat against Chris Ward (USA), Andrew King (Australia), and Kawika Stillwell (Hawaii). Most people on the beach didn't even realize that anything dramatic had even occurred. Water photographer Neal Miyake was the first to Redman, closely followed by the event Water Patrol officers on a nearby jet-ski.

"He didn't look like he knew what was going on," said Miyake. "I told him it didn't look too bad, but I only saw the scrape above his eye. I didn't know there was a worse injury on the side of his head. Then the water patrol picked him up."

In fact, in only took about a minute for Redman to be picked up and dropped to shore.

"The alertness of the water patrol and their ability to respond to any kind of water safety situation like this was vital," said contest director Reid Inouye. "Thanks to water patrol Abe Lerner and Kai Garcia, and cameraman Neal Miyake, it took less than a minute to get him to the beach. These guys have done water patrol all over the world for world class events, but the Pipeline is still the Pipeline and during the low tide like we had this-morning, it can still be dangerous. But their quick response and medical attention was unlike anything you'd find anywhere. They got him Daniel up to the (Ehukai Beach) park and then the paramedics were there to take over."

Sanders, Jackson and Schmeltzer win VQS Champions final
Date Posted: 8 February 2004

Justin Sanders (St Francis Bay), Brandon Jackson and Josch Schmeltzer (both Dbn) won the Pro-Am, Junior and Grom division titles, respectively at the Volcom Qualifying Series (VQS) Championship Final held in cyclone surf at Addington beach in Durban today (Saturday, February 07, 2004). All three winners have been invited to surf the VQS World Champs which take place at Newport Beach (USA) in May 2004 where they will take on qualifiers from Indonesia, Australia, Brazil, Europe, Japan and America. There was a total prize purse of R10 000 and all finalists walked away with generous product prizes from Island Style. The Pro-Am champion, Sanders, was awarded a return ticket to California to enable him to compete overseas. The VQS Tour is sanctioned by Surfing South Africa (SSA) and the Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) Africa.

The biggest swell of 2004 which has been building gradually since Thursday reached its peak today; contestants were treated to 2-metre (6ft) surf with relatively light winds all day.

25 year old Sanders who also won the Baboonfish tournament in Port Alfred was thrilled to clinch victory and said, “I am so amped right now all I want to do is to go over to Newport Beach and win there too. I feel lucky for getting that deep barrel and I think that is what pulled me through to first place.”

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Emslie requalifies for 2004 WCT and wins Gotcha Pro
Date Posted: 15 December 2003

The 2A Gotcha Pro was completed at Umhlanga Rocks on Sunday rounding off the ASP Africa Pro Surf Tour for 2003.

Greg Emslie celebrated his requalification onto the prestigious WCT by putting on a classy display of surfing to take top honours in this years Gotcha Pro. In rapidly deteriorating conditions Emslie showed the crowd (and his competitors) the kind of radical high speed surfing that is required for top end competition these days.

Second was Justin Saunders who showed some class of his own proving that he is wasted on the local series and should be on the QS. Third was Shane Thorne. Shane’s performance throughout the event was devastating. Riding a 5’11” he muscled his way through the event with some very powerful new age surfing. In the final he was ultimately unlucky not to find waves. Travis finished fourth, considering that he was nursing an ankle injury and had just won the ASP Africa Men’s title for 2003 it wasn’t a bad day on the beach for him.

In the juniors it was a one horse race from the start. Matthew Krueger had the wave whistle and he used it to good effect. He basically ran away with the junior title after his first wave in the first thirty seconds of the heat. Thereafter wherever he was the sets popped up. He made good use of these waves and racked up some pretty high scores effectively closing the door on Dan Redman, Brandon Roberts and Dylan Stewart.

The woman’s started out looked like it was going to be Tammarys start to finish as she opened with two strong rides. Not to be intimidated though young Rosie Hodge pulled out all the stops half way through the final with some very radical surfing to capture the lead which she held from there on to eventually be crowned the winner. Stacey Guy surfed radically but failed to find length of ride while Sarah Johnston ultimately failed to find any form of rhythm in the difficult conditions.

Overall the event rounded off what many hope is the beginning of a more serious and committed ASP Pro Surf Tour. - John McCarthy

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Slater and Irons keep pace going:
Date Posted: 15 December 2003

SSaturday, December 13, 2003 - (Pipeline, HAWAII) There were no bumps in the Xbox Pipeline Masters round one road for world title contenders Kelly Slater (Florida) and Andy Irons (Hawaii) today, both clearly advancing through their first round heats with conclusive wins.

Opening up the day'scompetition in highly anticipated back-to-back heats, Irons was first out in the 4-8 foot surf, up against wildcard Kalani Chapman (Haw) and Richard Lovett (Aus). With the two highest scores of the heat - 8.53 and 8.5, Irons' total of 17.03 points stood to be the highest score of the day's competition.

Straight behind Andy came Slater, forced to keep pace with his rival if he's to keep his world title chances in check. Scoring slightly lower than Irons, Slater still wove his way through the premier tube rides of the 25 minute heat to advance to winner's round three. "I actually think it's advantageous to surf first," said Irons. "That way I can get the job out of the way and I don't have to sit around watching Kelly, stressing out about what I need to do."

"I think both ways have advantages and disadvantages," said Slater. "With Andy surfing first, I know where I stand. But I think the pressure's on. It's on both of us all the way to end now."

When competition resumes, it will be with the third round, quarterfinals, semis and final. This event will conclude the 2003 ASP World Tour and Vans Triple Crown of Surfing and will crown the world champion and Triple Crown champion.
(taken from ASP World Tour press release by Jesse Faen)

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Heather Clark still in contention for world surfing crown:
Date Posted: 12 December 2003

South Africa’s Heather Clark is still in contention for the 2003 ASP women’s world surfing title after advancing to round three of the season ending R375 000 Billabong Pro Maui at Honolua Bay on the island of Maui in Hawaii yesterday (Thursday).

The 32 year-old from Port Shepstone on the Kwazulu Natal South Coast, currently in fourth position just 276 points behind ratings leader Keala Kennelly (Haw), placed second behind Kate Skarratt (Aus) in her opening heat to set up a third round encounter against world #12 Marie Pierre Abgrall (France).

Clark, the runner in Fiji and third in both Tahiti and France, is 176 points behind Chelsea Georgeson (Aus) and needs Kennelly and reigning five time women’s world champion, Layne Beachley, to be eliminated before the two-person final and also to beat Georgeson by one position in order to capture the most sought after title in world surfing.

If she gets past Abgrall, Clark will be up against the winner of the Jacqueline Silva (Brz) vs Pauline Menczer (Aus) encounter in the quarters, followed by a possible semi-final showdown against Beachley.

Kennelly and Georgeson are seeded to meet in the semi-final in the bottom half of the draw, a match-up that Clark will hope the young Aussie wins. That will leave her destiny in Clark’s own hands and she can become the first South African women’s world surfing champ since Wendy Botha back in 1987 if she can beat Georgeson in the final.

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It all comes down to Pipeline:
Date Posted: 8 December 2003

The title race for the Men’s 2003 ASP World Champion title will be decided in nail-biting style at the final event of the 2003 ASP World Tour.

There are now only 96 critical points between tour leader Kelly Slater and runner-up, 2002 World Champ Andy Irons, after Irons finished second at the Rip Curl Cup, held at Sunset Beach, Hawaii over the weekend. Whoever places further in the upcoming year-ending Xbox Pipeline Masters (Dec 8-20) will secure the 2003 world title in one of the most eagerly awaited showdowns of professional surfing history.

“Coming into Pipeline is a dream come true,” said Irons of the anticipated showdown. “I’m coming from behind and Kelly’s got the lead, but I think the pressure is more on him than me right now. I’m just psyching on it and hopefully a couple of Trialists take him out early there too. I’m going for it for sure. It’s on.”

Slater was knocked out in round three of the Rip Curl Cup, opening the way for Irons to bridge the ratings gap. “I’ve got to get my head back in it,” he added, of the looming title showdown at Pipeline. “I’ve just been relaxing the past couple of weeks and not really in contest mode or form, but I think this is probably what everyone wanted. Coming down to Pipe, and the points are close, so we’ll see what happens. There’s a lot of sand there, so it’s probably not going to be perfect Pipe. You’re going to have to know the wave pretty well in different conditions, and I do. It’s just going to come down to finding the right waves.”
(taken from the ASP Rip Curl Cup press release on www.aspworltour.com)
 

Slater Extends Lead
Date Posted: 5 November 2003

November 4, 2003 (Joaquina, Florianopolis, Brazil) Six-time world Champion Kelly Slater (FL, USA) today moved a major step closer towards clinching a record seventh crown by winning the Nova Schin Festival WCT Brazil over Mick Fanning (Gold Coast, Aus).

The US$250,000 ASP World Championship Tournament (WCT relocated two hours drive south to Imbituba, with round four of kicking off the action. A capacity beach crowd with tens of thousands then watched as the final rounds unfolded this afternoon.

Solid 6ft (2m) surf was on offer at Praia Da Vila, with the best waves seen during the entire event. Long right-handers reminiscent of Haleiwa, Hawaii, gave competitors plenty of room to perform multiple manoeuvres down the line.

Slater, fresh from a third WCT win in Spain last event, marked his territory throughout today's business end of the draw with incredible surfing. The 31-year-old posted the only perfect 10 of the tournament, together
with the highest combined total of 18.67-points during the quarterfinals. Then in the main decider he created an early lead. The lead changed midway, but the Floridian then nailed his 27th event title with the final's top score of 9.37-points.

The WCT now heads to Hawaii for the final two men's events of the year. First is the Rip Curl Cup at Sunset Beach (Nov 24 - Dec 7) and then the 2003 season reaches its climax during the Xbox Pipeline Masters (Dec 8-20).

Slater on track for 7th World Title
Date Posted: 24 Octobert 2003

Six-time world champion Kelly Slater (FL, USA) today won the Billabong Pro Mundaka and took poll position for this year's world title race.

The US$250,000 World Championship Tournament (WCT) commenced this morning with both semifinal bouts, and then moved immediately into the event's pinnacle on the last day of its generous 13-day waiting period.

Windblown 4ft (1.3m) surf was on offer, but long lefthanders were still running along the epic sandbar. Slater began the day by achieving his primary goal of overtaking reigning world champ Andy Irons' (Kauai, Haw) ratings lead upon reaching the Billabong Pro Mundaka final. Then against West Australian Taj Burrow in the 30-minute decider, he surfed a patient match and steadily improved his standing, before nailing victory on his last ride for an 8.9 score. With two previous WCT wins to his credit this season - both Billabong Pro's (Tahiti & in South Africa) - the Floridian has now racked up 26 career titles and amassed the most prizemoney in pro surfing (US$968,755) so far.

Contest: Quiksilver ISA World Junior Surfing Games
Date Posted: 24 August 2003

Brazil clinched the team title at the 2003 Quiksilver ISA World Junior Surfing Championships at North Beach in Durban on Saturday as Jordy Smith (South Africa and Australians Jesse Miley-Dyer and Ben Dunn took their respective U/16 boys, U/19 girls and U/18 boys world surfing titles.

The inaugural six day event created to honour the worlds best teenage surfers attracted more than 200 competitors from 17 nations and ended in warm onshore conditions with one to 1.5 metre (3-5 foot) contestable waves that gave the competitors every opportunity to strut their stuff and they produced an exceptional display of competitive surfing.

After a low-key semi-final where he finished second to advance to the final behind heat winner Richard Christie (NZ), 15 year-old Durban prodigy Jordy Smith was outstanding from start to the 25 minute U/16 final.

Taking off on a left breaking wave through the North Beach bowl, Jordy turned vertically off the bottom to bash the lip twice, throwing sheets of spray, before weaving his way all the way to the beach for a great 8.17 opening score that left his opponents having to play catch-up until the final siren.

Two good 7.0 and 7.50 point rides in the middle of the heat consolidated the Durbanite’s lead and while Wrench came back with a 7.17 that left him needing an 8.50 for the title, Coleborn and Christie struggled to find any decent waves and both required a combination totaling 15.68 for victory.

Shark attack at the Point, J-Bay
Date Posted:

After a chilling escape from a hungry Great White shark, 15 year old Southern Cape surfer Joseph Krone continued to surf in the Billabong Polar Ice Junior Series over the weekend, making it to the semi-finals and into world headline news.

The attack happened on Friday 8 September in glassy three foot waves, moments before the start of the event at Point, Jeffery’s Bay.

Krone recounts the incident: “I caught a wave all the way to the bottom of the point. I was paddling back out, and stopped to rest for a minute. I was just sitting on my board and the shark hit me from beneath, throwing me off my board. When I came up I saw the shark thrashing around on the surface, and my board was bitten in half.”

Although eyewitnesses saw the fin before the attack, Krone says he had no idea there was a shark until it actually hit his board.

The shark, identified as a great white, bit a huge chunk out of the board from the rail to the stringer, and it was at this point that Krone started the scariest swim of his life towards the rocks, assisted by another surfer, Shannon Ainslies.

Ainslies, who himself was attacked in an incident that involved two Great Whites at Nahoon Reef, East London, said that he wanted to paddle in but couldn’t leave Krone alone.

“Everyone paddled away from him, and I nearly did, but couldn't so I paddled up to him and asked him if he was OK. He said he was and I asked him if he was sure. He said he was. I then paddled in next to him, while he held onto my board.”

Fortunately Krone’s leash had snapped during the attack and he made it safely to the rocks, uninjured. “I kept thinking the thing was going to come back for me,” recalls Krone “but it didn’t”.

Although Krone comes from Mossel Bay in the Southern Cape, an area renowned for it’s big fish, this was the first time that he had even seen a shark this large or had an encounter.

“I’ve seen a small shark before at Mossel Bay and we all got out the water, but never anything like this”.
The Great White is estimated to be about three and a half metres long, according to Brent Visser from Shark Aquarium in Jeffery’s Bay, the authority in charge of the report for the incident. Visser explains that the reason Krone was lucky to be uninjured is because the shark breached from the bottom – the tactic the predators regularly employ to hunt seals unawares. Approaching at an angle of about 60 degrees, the shark strikes it’s prey at a speed of about 40-45 kilometres per hour.

“This is why they bottom part of the jaw hit the board first. As the surfer was knocked off the board, the top part of the jaw closed on the board”, explains Visser, who says that the shark then realised it was a case of mistaken identity. However, Krone was lucky not to be bleeding because this can spark off a frenzy from the attacking shark and any other sharks that may be in the area.

Visser says that the larger (four to five meter plus) Great Whites generally avoid the smaller bays because they know there aren’t many seals there, but the younger sharks “come into the bays opportunistically looking for seals or whatever else to eat”.

Although Krone is obviously not going to minimise his water time after the incident, he does say that he’ll keep surfing “as long as it’s a bit crowded”.

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