Clark and Robb claim titles after dramatic start to Billabong ‘Girls Get Out There’ Summer Surf Series in Margate

Source: Life's a Beach Communications - lifesabeach@mweb.co.za-

Press release sent on December the 18th, 2007

Billabong ‘Girls Get Out There’ Summer Surf Series
Four surf festivals exclusively for females
Margate, Jeffreys Bay, Cape Town & Scottburgh
December 2007 – February 2008

The sun came out, the waves came up and literally thousands of holiday-makers descended on Margate Beach to see Heather Clark and Nikita Robb claim the premier titles on the final day of the Billabong ‘Girls Get Out There’ Summer Surf Series on Sunday.

The day’s proceedings started in dramatic fashion when a powerful rip current developed next to the rocks at low tide and several of the girls in Round 3 of the Under 15 division were swept out of Margate Bay after completing rides and had to be rescued by Lifeguards using an inflatable boat.

Holly Armstrong, who went on to win the U15 final later in the day, was one of those who finished a ride, was dragged out of sight of the beach, was returned by boat and promptly caught another wave that secured her progression to the semifinals before exiting the ocean.

After similar incidents in the following heats, the contest was halted until the tide started to fill in and the current dissipated, with the waves getting better despite a stiff NE cross shore wind that helped to cool those in attendance on a searing hot sub-tropical beach day.

Clark, a KZN South Coast local from nearby Port Shepstone who spent seven years competing at the highest level of women’s world surfing before retiring from international competition at the end of 2006, was the standout throughout in the Open division.

She won every heat she contested over the two days, consistently racking up scores over 8.0 out of 10 as she marched to victory, pocketing the R5 000 winner’s cheque and taking the early lead in the series ratings ahead of the events in Jeffreys Bay next weekend and in Cape Town and Scottburgh in February 2008.

“I’m really glad to have won the event in such testing conditions,” Clark said. “It’s a good thing I’ve been doing my swim training because it was impossible to sit in the line-up and wait for waves, you just had catch whatever came along and then ride in and run back along the beach before paddling out again. Hat’s off to those young girls who surfed in two divisions – they’re like energizer bunnies!”

Clark superior manoeuvres netted scores of 8.6 and 8.0 to leave the other three girls in the final in a combination situation where they had to improve on both their counting rides to overtake her.

Defending Margate event champion Tarryn Chudleigh (Kommetjie) came closest, repeating the second place she earned behind Clark in their semifinal which produced some of the best girls surfing performances ever seen on the SA coastline as 2006/7 series champion Sarah Maritz (Warner Beach) and Nikita Robb (East London) were eliminated from the Open division in a titanic struggle.

Stacey Guy from Melkbosstrand collected third place in the final ahead of an exhausted 13 year-old Sarah Baum who, like Chudleigh, had just completed the Pro Junior (U20) final.

Robb was an even more clear cut winner in the U20 final, opening her account with a near perfect 9.25 point score before combo’ing the other three finalists by posting an identical score later in the heat.
Chudleigh was again the runner-up, leaving Margate for the first time in five visits without a title, with Baum third and Heidi Palmboom (Bluff) taking fourth spot.

Armstrong snatched a stunning victory in the U15 division when she moved from third to first on a ride that started a second before the siren sounded to end the heat and finished 15 seconds later. Armstrong leapfrogged fellow Kommetjie surfer Tanika Hoffman and Heather Klug (Durban) to the winner’s dais with rising star Sabrina Scott (Glencairn, CT), another who struggled in the rip current earlier in the day, coming in fourth.

The plucky Novices finalists coped extremely well with the testing one to 1.3 metre surf despite their parents sitting on the edge of their seats throughout. Victory went to Gina Smith (East London) followed by Janelle Rademeyer (Scottburgh), Jordyn van Houtte (Warner Beach) and Inge McLaren (Nahoon, EL).

The huge crowd was treated to non-stop promotions and beach activities throughout the day with the Tropitone promotions team running out of promotional sun screen under the blazing sun; Seventeen magazine busy taking lifestyle and action photos for their www.seventeen.co.za website and the team from Girls Inc running hourly contests that earned participants hampers of underwear, with a one lucky pair winning underwear for a year for producing the best painting of an endangered species.

People flocked to the free learn to surf lessons conducted by 1978 ISA world surfing champion Ant Brodowicz, who also gave the contestants invaluable advice on how to avoid the rip current, and there was a great turnout for the Soft Lips Yoga sessions conducted by Tara Hossack, the Billabong Girls Marketing Manager, as Silver Bullet Productions recorded all the action for broadcast on SuperSport.

The whole Billabong Girls Get Out There Summer Surf Series moves to the Eastern Cape next weekend when the second of the four all-girls festivals of surf and beach action will be staged at Jeffreys Bay on Sunday and Monday 16-17 December.

The Billabong ‘Girls Get Out There’ Summer Surf Series is sanctioned by Surfing South Africa (SSA) and proudly supported by Soft Lips, FNB, Von Zipper, Kustom, Tropitone and Seventeen Magazine. Lifestyle and action coverage of the events will appear in the Seventeen Magazine publication, on the website www.seventeen.co.za and on SuperSport in television documentaries produced by Silver Bullet Productions.

Billabong ‘Girls Get Out There’ Summer Surf Series
Event # 1 (of 4) Margate

Results

Open Women
1. Heather Clark (Port Shepstone) R5 000
2. Tarryn Chudleigh (Kommetjie) R3 000
3. Stacey Guy (Melkbosstrand) R1 500
4. Sarah Baum (Athlone Park) R1 000

Pro Junior (U/20) Girls
1. Nikita Robb (East London) R4 000
2. Tarryn Chudleigh (Kommetjie) R1 800
3. Sarah Baum (Athlone Park) R1 200
4. Heidi Palmboom (Bluff) R1 000

U/15 Girls (All received Billabong hampers)
1. Holly Armstrong (Kommetjie) R1 000
2. Tanika Hoffman (Kommetjie) R 700
3. Heather Klug (Glenmore, Dbn) R 500
4. Sabrina Scott (Glencairn, CT) R 300

Novices (All received Billabong hampers)
1. Gina Smith (East London) R 500
2. Janelle Rademeyer (Scottburgh) R 300
3. Jordyn van Houtte (Warner Beach) R 200
4. Inge McLaren (Nahoon, EL) R 100

/ends

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Fax: 042 293 2478
Email: laureen.payne@billabong.co.za

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