Source: Surfing South Africa – www.surfingsouthafrica.co.za

Press release issued on February 13, 2010

Chris Bertish of Cape Town etched his name in Mavericks history when he was crowned champion of the 2009/2010 Mavericks Surf Contest at Half Moon Bay in Northern California Saturday (February 13).

After more than three months of waiting, contestants and fans alike were rewarded for their patience with an historic day for big-wave surfing, as competitors surfed waves described as some of the biggest they have ever paddled into.

About 50,000 spectators watched as Bertish outlasted Shane Desmond, Anthony Tashnick, Dave Wassel, Carlos Burle, and Kenny “Skindog” Collins to claim the Jim Beam Jersey and a ,000 check from prize purse sponsors Moose Guen and Jane Sutherland of MVision and Barracuda Networks. 

The total prize purse of 0,000 was the largest in big-wave surfing history, with ,000 going to Bertish, ,000 to Desmond in second, ,000 to Tashnick in third, ,000 to Wassel in fourth, ,000 to Burle in fifth, and ,000 to Collins in sixth.

Defending Champion, Greg Long summed up the day perfectly while passing along the Jim Beam Champion’s jersey to Bertish.  “The entire book of big wave surfing was rewritten today.” 

Bertish was overcome with emotion, adding, “It was an honor just to be here today and paddle out with these other guys.  I flew 36 hours to be here, and this has been a dream come true.”

Quiksilver ISA World Junior Surfing Championship
Piha Beach, New Zealand
Press release issued on January 28, 2010 

The South African Junior Surfing team secured fourth place overall along with a haul of four medals – two Bronze and two Copper – at the 2010 Quiksilver ISA World Junior Surfing Championship which ended in good one metre conditions at Piha Beach in New Zealand on January 28th.

The podium finish and Copper Medal was South Africa’s best team result since the ISA World Junior Championships became a stand-alone event in 2003, having finished fifth three times, seventh twice and sixth at last year’s event in Ecuador.

The other South African medals were earned by Sarah Baum (Athlone Park) who placed third overall for Bronze in the U18 Girls; team captain Beyrick de Vries (Umhlanga) who pocketed the Copper Medal for fourth place in the U18 Boys division and the Tag-Team who clinched the Bronze when they placed third overall in the Aloha Cup event.

De Vries stormed through the six rounds of the U18 Boys qualifying stream, convincingly winning the Round 6 heat over Jordin Watson (AUS) to advance to the Grand Final as the favourite. But Gabriel Medina (BRA) and Tamaroa McComb (TAH) emerged from the cutthroat repecharge rounds and dominated the final match-up.

Medina was simply unbeatable, posting a perfect 10 point ride along with a 9.90 for a heat tally of 19.90 and the Gold Medal. Watson grabbed the Silver, just 0.02 of a point ahead of McComb with de Vries in fourth place.

Baum also progressed straight through the five rounds of the U18 Girls division, advancing to the Grand Final in second place behind eventual gold medalist Tyler Wright (AUS). Alessa Quizon (HAW) and Lakey Peterson (USA) survived the repecharge final and the Hawaiian went on to claim the Silver with Baum taking Bronze and Peterson the Copper.

Matt Banting (AUS) won the U16 Boys from Jake Halstead (USA), Koa Smith (HAW) and Hiroti Arai (JAP) to give Australia their second individual Gold and helped them secure their fifth consecutive team title at the event, and sixth triumph in the eight year history of the tournament.

Baum and de Vries’ finals results were sufficient to boost South Africa’s team total past France and into a medal-winning fourth place behind Australia, Hawaii and the USA. France finished fifth, Tahiti sixth and hosts New Zealand seventh.

Video highlights, images and full results of all the heats in the 2010 Quiksilver ISA World Junior Surfing Championships are available at www.isaworldjuniors.com 

The 2010 South African Junior Surfing Team is supported by the National Lottery Distribution Trust Fund (NLDTF) and clothed by Quiksilver with additional support from Skullcandy and Power Balance.

Results 

GIRLS UNDER 18

1 TYLER WRIGHT (AUSTRALIA)

2 ALESSA QUIZON (HAWAII)

3 SARAH BAUM (SOUTH AFRICA - Athlone Park)

4 LAKEY PETERSON (USA)

=13 Bianca Buitendag (George)

=29 Tanika Hoffman (Kommetjie)

=41 Heidi Palmboom (Bluff)

BOYS UNDER 18

1 GABRIEL MEDINA (BRAZIL)

2 JORDIN WATSON (AUSTRALIA)

3 TAMAROA MCCOMB (TAHITI)

4 BEYRICK DE VRIES (SOUTH AFRICA Umhlanga) 

=19 Michael February (Kommetjie)

=25 Davey Brand (Kommetjie)

=31 Dane Staples (St Francis Bay)

BOYS UNDER 16

1 MATT BANTING (AUSTRALIA)

2 JAKE HALSTEAD (USA)

3 KOA SMITH (HAWAII)

4 HIROTI ARAI (JAPAN)

=19 Dylan Lightfoot (Jeffreys Bay)

=22 Steven Sawyer (Jeffreys Bay)

=22 Jarred Veldhuis (Kommetjie)

=37 Diran Zakarian (Melkbosstrand)

ALOHA CUP

1 AUSTRALIA

2 FRANCE

3 SOUTH AFRICA

4 HAWAII

TEAM

1 AUSTRALIA

2 HAWAII

3 USA

4 SOUTH AFRICA

5 FRANCE

6 TAHITI

7 NEW ZEALAND 

Billabong Grom Series presented by Oceanbridge - Event 1
Boys and Girls Under 16, 14 and 12 

5-7 February 2010
Tay Street, Mount Maunganui

South African junior surfer Dylan Lightfoot stunned his Kiwi counterparts by clinching victory in the premier Under 16 Boys division of the Billabong Grom Series presented by Oceanbridge at Mount Maunganui in New Zealand on Sunday.

Lightfoot, a member of the South African junior surfing team that achieved its best ever result of fourth in the recent Quiksilver ISA World Junior Surfing Championship in New Zealand in January, defeated the cream of the Kiwi juniors in the small but contestable 0.5 to 0.75 metre waves on offer at the venue of Tay Street.

The New Zealand media reported the victory under the headlines ‘South African Stomps Opponents Into Submission’ and went on to report ‘South African surfer Dylan Lightfoot came and conquered at the first event of the Billabong Grom Series presented by Oceanbridge ….. The lone South African contesting the event won the premier Under 16 Boys Division.’ 

Lightfoot, along with his family, has been in New Zealand for four weeks surfing breaks around and also competing at the ISA World Junior Surfing Championship where he placed 19th overall, the highest of the four SA boys in the U16 Boys division.