JUNIOR CHAMP SHANE SIMMONDS WINS NATIONAL OPEN EVENT

Source: Jamaican Surfing Association - www.geocites.com/jasurfas

Press release sent on June 8th, 2008

2007 National Under 18 champion Shane Simmonds of Boston Bay in Portland, took things into his own hands on Saturday June 7 2008 at the Copa Surfing Beach in 8 Miles Bull Bay, when he walked away with the 1000 points on offer for the winner of the third event of the Jamaica Surfing Association’s 2008 National Open Series.

The ladies had their heat early in the day while the conditions were excellent. The waves were 4’ – 5’ with favourable off shore winds for the first half of the event and the surfers held nothing back in their quest for the National Open Champion’s title.

They put on an exciting display of surfing to the great appreciation of the crowd present on the beach. The women had the beach cheering for each exchange during the 20 minute final. When the time expired and the spray settled, Danielle was the winner with Imani second, Elim third and Esther fourth.

Thirty one surfers from around the island registered for the men’s division of the event. Four rounds of competition were run to narrow the field to the top 5 for the final heat of the day. Shane Simmonds, Icah Wilmot, Luke Williams, Eneson Lightbourn and Dane Jeffreys paddled out to do battle before the judges.

37 waves were ridden in the 20 minutes allotted for the final with Luke getting his full quota of 10 waves. Icah got 9, Eneson and Shane 7 each with Dane grabbing 4. The judges selected each riders top 2 waves to score out of a 10 point maximum.

The wind had come up by this time, making conditions very challenging for the finalists who had to contend with the 20 knot wind speeds which buffeted the southeast surf spot. The lead changed hands as each surfer put their best manoeuvres on display with each ensuing ride. Cheers went up from the crowd on the beach as young Shane strung together ride after immaculate ride and slowly opened up daylight between himself and the rest of the surfers in the heat.
When the final horn sounded the judges had Shane ahead of the field with the other surfers tightly bunched for the remaining 4 places. After the tallying the results were announced.

1st Shane Simmonds, 2nd Icah Wilmot, 3rd Luke Williams, 4th Eneson Lightbourn and 5th Dane Jefferys. The official results are presented below.

The next event in the JSA’s 2008 open series will be The 2008 National Junior Championship event #1 to be held on Saturday July 5th 2008 at the Makka Surfing Beach, Yallahs St Thomas beginning at 8:30 am. The public is invited to watch Jamaica’s top under 18 surfers compete for National Championship honors.

About International Surfing Association
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).

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