DECEMBER 11, 2009
In a massive boost for women’s surfing in South Africa, both Rosanne Hodge and Nikita Robb have qualified for the 2010 ASP Women’s World Tour giving the country two representatives at the highest level of women’s competition surfing for the first time since the two-tier system was introduced in 1992.

Hodge, 22, qualified for her fourth consecutive year on the tour when she finished No. 10 on the year-end ASP Women’s World Tour rankings after the completion of the Billabong Pro Maui in Hawaii . The East London surfer ranked No. 9 going into the final event, spent an anxious 24 hours awaiting the outcome when she was eliminated in Round 3.

Rebecca Woods (AUS) overtook her in the ratings by advancing to the quarterfinals, but the balance of the lower ranked opponents were eliminated.  This clinched the last automatic re-qualification spot for Hodge, as well as a place amongst the world’s best competitive female surfers for yet another year.

Robb, 20, also from East London, has been waiting for confirmation of her spot among the elite of women’s surfing since the final event on the 2009 ASP World Qualifying Series (WQS) in Ro de Janeiro in October. A fifth place in that event saw her jump to No. 9 on the year-end WQS rankings, where the top six qualify for the top-tier World Tour.

Both girls represented South Africa at the 2009 ISA World Surfing Games in Costa Rica earlier this year with Hodge earning a silver medal to add to the bronze she won at the ISA World Games in Huntington Beach in 2006.

2010 ASP Women’s World Tour Qualifiers

Stephanie Gilmore (AUS)

Silvana Lima (BRA)

Sofia Mulanovich (PER)

Coco Ho (HAW)

Sally Fitzgibbons (AUS)

Melanie Bartels (HAW)

Chelsea Hedges (AUS)

Paige Hareb (NZL)

Rebecca Woods (AUS)

Rosanne Hodge (ZAF)

Jessi Miley-Dyer (AUS)

Carissa Moore (HAW)

Claire Bevilacqua (AUS)

Lee Ann Curren (FRA)

Bruna Schmitz (BRA)

Nikita Robb (ZAF)

ASP wildcard to be decided

For more on Nikita see www.nikitarobb.co.za.

For more information on both of South Africa’s two highest rated female surfers see www.aspafrica.com.

OCTOBER 22, 2009
South African Surfing Champion, 2008 ISA World Masters Women’s Champion, and former World Championship Tour surfer, Heather Clark, is recovering in the hospital today after being seriously injured in a car accident near her home in Port Shepstone.

According to reports an alleged drunk driver lost control of his vehicle and smashed into the car that Heather was driving, splitting it in two. She suffered a serious head injury that required 22 stitches and is being assessed for other injuries at the Hibiscus Coast Hospital today.

The alleged drunk driver, who was uninjured, was arrested after the accident and spent the night in jail. Heather has no medical aid and apart from a small surf and swimming school, is not employed. Her injuries will not only cost her a fortune in medical expenses, but will prevent her from earning an income while she recovers.

Anyone interested in assisting this great South African surfer with her medical costs can do so by going to www.surfingsouthafrica.co.za and reading the story on the website. Bank details are included in the story.

The 2009 South African Masters Surfing Team has returned home after spending ten fantastic days in Swakopmund, Namibia. During the visit, the team competed in two events against an enthusiastic group of local Namibian surfers.

The SA Masters team included World Champion Marc Wright of Durban, multi capped World Championship finalists David and Andre Malherbe of East London, 1992 World Surfing Games runner up Carl Roux of Umhlanga and new caps Dave Fish and Mike Brent of East London and Gary Van Wieringen of Warner Beach.

The team was coached by 1978 World Champion Ant Brodowicz and was accompanied by Penny and Hannes Stemmet of Somerset West who assisted in the running and adjudication of the events.  2008 World Masters Champion and current South African champion, Heather Clark of Port Shepstone, who was badly injured in a horrific motor car accident two weeks ago, was unable to travel with the team.

While in Namibia the SA Masters Team assisted the Namibian Surfing Association in the coordination and running of events and worked on the development of judges and coaches in the region. 

Both South Africa and Namibia are members of the International Surfing Association but while South Africa has attended every ISA sanctioned event since 1992, Namibia’s attendance at an ISA tournament has been limited due to their lack of funds. The last time Namibia competed in an ISA contest was in Durban in 2002.

The objective during this visit by the team that won the title at both the 2007 and 2008 ISA World Masters Championships was to assist and encourage the Namibian Surfing Association to send teams to the ISA World events scheduled for 2010.