Source: Robin de Kock – Surfing South Africa - www.surfingsouthafrica.co.za

2009 SA SURFING CHAMPIONSHIPS
Gavin Roberts and current ISA World Masters champion Heather Clark won the 2009 Mens and Womens titles at the 47th edition of the South African Surfing Championships recently. Shawn Dennis won the U20 Boys title and Tarryn Chudleigh won the U20 Girls crown.

Kwazulunatal won the 40 year old Presidents Cup from event hosts Southern KZN.
The event was held in 6 foot surf at St. Michaels on Sea on the KZN south coast and was sponsored by South Coast Tourism.

MR PRICE WP OPEN
Former SA Junior Team member Chad du Toit posted his best result in a year when he took the honours in the 3A rated Mr Price WP Open which was completed in 4 foot offshore surf at Long Beach Kommetjie on the first Sunday of June.

Local surfer and 2009 SA Junior Team captain Matt Bromley won the 2A rated U20 Boys final while four time ISA World Junior championship attendee Chantelle Rautenbach won the 3A rated Womens title.

The Mr Price WP Open is a Surfing South Africa Pro Surf Tour contest.  

QUIKSILVER KING OF THE GROMS SOUTHERN CAPE
Davey Brand, the Bronze Medal winner in the U16 division of the Quiksilver ISA World Juniors in Ecuador, was crowned the King at the King of the Groms held at Herolds Bay in the Southern Cape in mid June. Brand turned the tables on Mikey February who won the first King of the Groms event in Cape Town in March.

Brendon Gibbens won the U20 final. There is just one Quiksilver King of the Groms left in the 2009 series which will see the top U16 surfer joining champions from all over the world in the finals in France later this year.

O'NEILL COLD WATER CLASSIC CAPE TOWN
The 2009 4star ASP World Qualifying Series was held in the middle of winter in the Cape of Storms. Despite the weather, contestants were treated to some typical Cold Water Classic condition which culminated in a great final at a special Cape Town surf spot called Kalk Bay Reef.

The man on man final featured Capetonian Royden Bryson and Blake Thornton from Australia and although the huge crowd were right behind Oyden, nerves got the better of him and he fell on a high scoring wave. This was all Thornton needed and he powered to victory and won the unique trophy - a set of jaws from a Great White Shark.

RIP CURL GROMSEARCH
It was that man, Mikey February, back in the winners circle at the Rip Curl Gromsearch in Cape Town on the last weekend of June. With an all expenses-paid trip to the Rip Curl Gromsearch International over Easter in Oz at stake, February gave it his all in the U16 final edging out his rival and friend Davey Brand with a strong ride in the dying seconds of the contest.

Brand and February both live in Kommetjie and are teammates in the Western Province and South African Junior teams.

Their rivalry goes back to the U12 age group when they first started surfing against each other. Both surfers are hoping to make the U18 SA Team for the 2010 ISA World Juniors.

In the U16 Girls division Sabrina Scott posted her first major victory while U14 Boys and Girls honours went to Slade Prestwich and Nina Woersman.
Shane Sykes won the U12 division.

MR PRICE PRO
Held in Ballito, on the KZN North Coast for the first time, the 6 star ASP WQS Mr Price Pro for Men and Women got off to a rough start when huge waves left organisers with no alternative but to call off the Womens event after three rounds. The 24 girls left in the event shared the money and the points. This is only the second time in ASP history that a Womens WQS event has been stopped before the final rounds.

The Mens fared better and Tanner Gadauskas of the USA came out tops.

BILLABONG OCCY GROMCOMP
Believe it or not, this one went to Mikey February as well! Held during the Billabong J Bay WCT the Occy Gromcomp featured surfers in the U16, U14 and U12 divisions and included a special challenge contest featuring the great Mark Occhilupo and five local juniors.

The five surfers were Brandon Benjamin, Daniel Wilson, David Van Zyl, Mikey Venter and Dale Staples.Organisers added a seventh surfer, 12 year old Ethan Fletcher who posted a 9.8 ride during his quarter final in the Gromcomp, which was the highest score of the contest.

Occy (43) then displayed his ability on the J Bay waves by beating them all!
In the Gromcomp Mikey won the U16 final, Daniel Buitendag took the U14 crown and Donovan Wichman won the U12 division. 

OTHER NEWS
WHALES BEACH THEMSELVES AT KOMMETJIE
In a tragic incident 55 Pilot whales beached themselves at Long Beach Kommetjie, Cape Towns most famous contest spot on the weekend prior to the Mr Price WP Open. Despite the efforts of surfers and conservationists, 40 whales had to be euthanased.
The last time whales beached themselves at Long Beach was in 1928 when 103 died.

RED BULL UNLEASHED
Red Bull hosted an Elite camp for about 18 of South Africa's up and coming surfers in the week leading up to the Billabong WCT contest in JBay.
During the five-day camp the surfers were put through their paces by international coaches Doug Marsh and Andy King, taught how to present themselves to the media and given a presentation by Steve Pike of Wavescape on weather and swell predictions.
The Red Bull Unleashed was sanctioned by Surfing South Africa.

About the International Surfing Association (ISA)
The International Surfing Association (ISA) is recognized by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) as the World Governing Authority for Surfing. 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 La Jolla, 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), Mike Gerard (USA) and Karín Sierralta (Peru).

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