Final day set for the RipCurl GromSearch

Lukas Skinner posted the days highest heat total.

An international field of talented young surfers wowed 8x World Champ Steph Gilmore today at The Rip Curl GromSearch International Final, covered by Sun Bum in Bali. Gilmore was on the judging panel when stand-out female Ziggy Mackenzie unleashed some explosive forehand rail surfing in the silky 3ft waves to easily win, signaling her intentions for finals day.

“What an epic day! It was amazing to see the next generation ripping and setting a new standard,” said current world number 5, Molly Picklum. She continued, “Tune in tomorrow to see me and Steph Gilmore on the microphone during the live webcast.”

The format of the event mimicked the WSL’s Championship Tour surfer-on-surfer heats, giving competitors a chance to experience what it’s like if they make it to the elite ranks. Considering over two thirds of the existing Championship Tour is made up of previous Rip Curl GromSearch winners, that experience should prove very valuable in the near future.

Other winners in the 16 & under Girls Round 1 included South Africa’s Louise Lepront and the USA’s Eden Wall who, despite missing the seeding round due to volcanic ash in Singapore, displayed zero signs of jetlag against local Indonesian Jasmine Studer.

The 16 & Under Boys field also delivered high-energy action with Dylan Donegan (ESP) nailing a buzzer beater in the dying minutes of his heat to sneak through, while defending champion Lucas Skinner (GBR) posted the highest scoring heat total of the day to secure his spot in the quarter finals.

Round two continued for the Boys in the afternoon with the first eliminations for the event taking place. Dylan Wilcoxen (IND) advanced with some incredible fin throws, while Rory Dace (ZAF) also impressed with proper man carves. In the 16 & Under Girls, Rosie Richardson (AUS) performed some high-impact single turns to advance to the quarterfinals, alongside #RipCurlGromSearchOnline winner Catalina Zariquiey Vegas (PER).

Some incredible matchups have been set up for finals day tomorrow.

For full results, visit the LiveHeats Event Page, or follow the Final Days live webcast: YouTube Live Webcast.

Rip Curl Gromsearch International Final Kicks Off

The Rip Curl GromSearch International Final 2024, covered by Sun Bum kicked off on Tuesday, November 12^th with finalists winning through from participating countries across the surfing globe to come together to showcase the future of surfing. Proceedings began with a vibrant traditional Balinese opening ceremony, followed by the athletes were presented with custom rash vests, each featuring their name on the back.

Day 1 of the event (Wednesday, November 13th) started with an early Search mission to find uncrowded waves for the opening seeding round. The day was a success delivering 2-3 foot, bowly right-handers with an uncrowded line-up. Event Director Harrison Mann decided it was the perfect opportunity to run the seeding round as a non-elimination round, with two 4-person heats per division to determine the seedings for Round 1. Athletes were scored based on their best wave.

“It was definitely worth the gamble today,” said Harrison Mann. “We scored some super fun waves with no one around. The standard of surfing was insane, and today was just a sneak peek of the fireworks we have in store for Friday and Saturday at Pererenan Beach.”

Judging the seeding round was panel of surfing royalty with 8 time world champion Stephanie Gilmore, Olympian Molly Picklum & ex WCT surfer Rosy Hodge.

Victoria Muñoz Larreta (ARG) kicked off the day with strong rail surfing on her forehand and committed finishes, earning a solid 6.67. The Girls 16 & Under opening round was dominated by goofy-footers backhand attacks. Louise Jane Lepront (ZAF) and Jasmine Studer (IDN) both performed tight backhand snaps in the pocket, with Jasmine scoring the highest girl’s score of the day—a 7.77 for two powerful backhand re-entries.

The U16 Boys were eager to get into the action after watching the girl’s performances. Lukas Skinner started strong with multiple good scoring rides, showcasing his quick rail game and aerial attack. However, he solidified the first “excellent” score of the day—a lofty air reverse on a set wave, earning an 8.17.

The final seeding round of the day was action packed with multiple excellent scores. Lucas Cassity kicked things off with an 8.33 for a huge straight air into an air reverse off the end section, but Dylan Donegan stole the show with a combination of powerful rail turns and aerials, earning the highest score of the day—9.0 for an incredible ride.

The day wrapped up with an exciting all-star tag-team competition featuring Stephanie Gilmore, Molly Picklum, and Rosy Hodge, each leading their own teams in a 6-surfer, 50-minute heat, with a double whammy surfer to finish. The heat was action-packed and close until the very end. 14-year-old Aditya Somiya (IDN) stole the show for Team Rosy with an 8.5 for three critical turns in the pocket. Despite Steph Gilmore‘s 8.7, it wasn’t enough to stop Team Rosy from winning the tag-team event with a total of 45.75 points. Team Steph finished second with 41.65, and Team Molly came in third with 30.75.

Round 1 action will kick off tomorrow morning at Pererenan Beach at 7 a.m. with the Girl’s Round 1. The surf is forecasted to be 3 feet and super clean, giving the groms a chance to showcase their skills on the world stage.

Keep up with all the action on LiveHeats and live broadcast for finals day on YouTube and watch the first episode of Rip Curl GromSearch International Final 2024 – Episode 1.

2024 Surf England Junior Surf Series Champs crowned

Lila Skinner winner of the under 14 girls title.

Following 5 hugely successful events held around the country the 2024 Surfing England Junior Surf Series came to fitting end in Newquay. Now in its third season the finale saw a fantastic day of teaching, fun and surfing at world famous Fistral Beach on Tuesday 29th October.
From the outset the Junior Surf Series has been about creating a fun set of club supported events to encourage new as well as established surfers to get involved and gain contest experience in U12 & U14 categories.

Tommy Hamilton

Invites were sent out to every series competitor who’d either won a division or placed 2nd if the winner had already qualified, and that’s how 18 frothing groms found themselves assembled on Fistrals famed sands looking at great waves excited for what was to come.
The day kicked off with a classroom competition training session with a focus on priority surfing led by one the UKs most experienced priority judges Kerry Powell. An engaging informative session took place with lots of great questions from the youngsters.

Next it was time to hit the sand with Team England Junior coach Beau Bromham taking the athletes through warm-ups and training routines.

Ellie Hickie under 12 girls champ.

Then it was time to hit the water with the groms launching in to practice priority heats and a chance to rack up priority experience and build their competitive knowledge. When not in the water, the groms took their turn at the priority board, learning the intricacies of paddle battles, assigning priority and what makes an interference.

For each division there could only be one series champion, and emerging from seriously hard fought finals it was Ellie Hickie and Harvey Waters who took the crowns in the u12 Girls and Boys divisions. In the U14s Seb Whitely put on an impressive performance to take the boys title and Lila Skinner came out top at her home break to become the Girls Junior Surf Series Champion 2024.

Harvey Waters under 12s boys champ.

‘It’s epic to see the Junior Surf Series giving these groms a platform to develop their competitive surfing and showcase what the best juniors in the country can achieve’ said Ben Powis, CEO at Surfing England.

‘The series has always been about growth and learning, new skills, new experiences, new friendships and the finals have illustrated that perfectly’.

“Talking of sporting inspiration, who better to crown the champions and dish out the prizes than English Surf prodigy Lukas Skinner.”

Surfing England Tour lead Phil Williams said “A fantastic end to another exciting year of the Junior Series, the standard over these three years continues to improve, but the fun and community continues to be a key part. This year we went to new locations , worked with fantastic surf clubs, and we can’t wait to start planning for 2025’

2024 Junior Surf Series Champions
U14 boys: Seb Whiteley
U14 girls: Lila Skinner
U12 boys: Harvey Waters
U12 girls: Ellie Hickie

2024 ISA World Para Surfing Championship

Team France Photo: Pablo Franco

The ninth edition of the 2024 ISA World Para Surfing Championship (WPSC) has come to a close after a massive day of action in ideal conditions at Huntington Beach. Fourteen World Champions were crowned, joining the four victors from yesterday, on an extremely competitive Finals Day that saw performance levels heightened like never before.

France claimed their second consecutive Team World Championship over the USA in a tight battle that has played out across three years. The winning nation took home a total of 10 medals: two each of Gold, Silver and Bronze, along with four Copper. Australia, fielding their strongest team in many years, claimed their first Team Medal since 2017 with Bronze. After missing out on the podium last year, 2020 Team World Champion Spain matched their 2022 performance to claim Copper.

Charlotte Banfield (ENG) took Gold Photo: Pablo Franco

Charlotte Banfield (ENG), Freddy Marimon (COL), and Jocelyn Neumueller (AUS) each claimed their second World Titles. It was back-to-back victories for Banfield, while Marimon and Neumueller returned to the top after many years.

Marimon’s victory was especially sweet, having dedicated himself to learning a different technique than the one that brought him so much success in his younger years, including the 2018 World Title at the age of 13. Now 19, Marimon has improved year-on-year in his new approach, a style that his biggest rival Davi Teixeira (BRA) was able to adapt to much quicker.

Teixeira has been dominant across the past two years, and seemed destined to continue his streak today. Marimon had other plans however, opening with a 9.00. Teixeira found an 8.80 of his own and took the lead late in the heat. But Marimon was directly behind, adding in a 7.93, enough to finally earn his second Gold Medal. The Colombian’s 16.93 heat total locked in just 0.30 ahead of the Brazilian’s 16.63.

“We fought for a whole year,” Marimon said. “A year of dedication, of sacrifice, of leaving things behind for this victory, because I wanted it. It was a year where many doors were closed, but God opened others, which gave me the advantage in this heat. Davi and I have been friends since we were very young and we have a very similar style of surfing. After we changed categories, the level started out even, then he went up. I pushed myself and now we are even.”

Marta Paço, Team Portugal Photo: Pablo Franco

Five multiple-time World Champions extended dominance of their divisions today. Alelí Medina (PUR), Elias Ricardo Diel (BRA), and Llywelyn ‘Sponge’ Williams (WAL) each won their third Gold Medals. Medina’s third win in-a-row has her tied for victories with Melissa Reid (ENG) in the women’s Visual Impairment (VI) 2 category.

Llwelyn ‘Sponge’ Williams (WAL) took Gold Photo: Sean Evans

Victoria Feige (CAN) set the bar in 2022 by becoming the first woman to win four Gold Medals in Para Surfing – a record she has since extended to five. Now, Marta Paço (POR) and Sarah Bettencourt (USA) have joined the elite by each claiming their fourth Gold Medals. Like Feige before them, both Paço and Bettencourt have expressed that watching the rising performance levels and growing strength of women’s Para Surfing competition means even more than their historic medal achievements.

“I just can’t can’t believe I’m a four-time World Champion,” Paço said. “It sounds crazy to me, but I’m so happy. I did my surfing and it worked out. As long as it gives me joy, that’s what I want to do, I want to be here. My goal is not to just get the medal, but also to surf better, surf better waves, show people what I can do.”

Audrey Pascual, Team Spain Photo: Sean Evans

Six divisions saw new World Champions crowned. Pierot Gagliano (FRA), Zoe Smith (ENG), Luciano Silveira (BRA), Audrey Pascual (ESP), Kai Colless(AUS) and JP Veaudry (RSA) each won their first Gold Medals.

For Gagliano, Smith, Veaudry, and Pascual, the victories were long-awaited, while Silveira took the Stand 3 division by storm in his very first event and Colless earned the win in his second attempt. Silveira posted one of the highest heat totals of the competition, a near perfect 18.66 two-wave heat total that included a massive 9.83 single wave score.

Colless was locked in a tight battle with his teammate, defending World Champion Joel Taylor (AUS) all event, continuing a rivalry that began last year. It all came down to the wire, with both surfers waiting on the sand for scores, but it was the younger of the pair, Colless, who ended up victorious, on the back of a 16.76 heat total, to Taylor’s 15.64.

In her fifth Final, Pascual was finally able to get her breakthrough win in a competitive heat that included newcomer Erin Koffel (USA), 2023 Silver Medalist Vera Quaresma (BRA), and two-time World Champion Emma Dieters (AUS), who was recently reclassified into the division. Pascual and Dieters both started with strong rides in the 5-point range, but it was Pascual’s second ride, a 7.83 that gave her a solid lead to carry through to her long-awaited victory.

“We were all hoping for the waves to pick up a bit so we could show our surfing,” Pascual said. “We ended up having so much fun in the water. We all caught great waves and I’m so happy it turned out that way.”

Zoe Smith (ENG) took Gold Photo: Sean Evans

ISA President Fernando Aguerre said:

“What an amazing ISA World Para Surfing Championship, held and presented by Surf City Huntington Beach. It was incredible days, great waves. I remember at our very first Adaptive Surfing World Championships, which was the original name, one of the competitors was asked about their hope for the event. Their answer was simple: ‘I hope to bring home hope.’ And that’s what we all bring. We hope that you take hope home.

“We will continue our paddle for Paralympic Surfing. We will continue our paddle for a better world through surfing and para surfing, and we will continue to support this amazing community. Congratulations to every one of you. Thank you to Visit Huntington Beach and big, big thank you to all the volunteers and the staff of the ISA for making this event an amazing history-making event.”

RESULTS

Team
Gold – France
Silver – USA
Bronze – Australia
Copper – Spain

Women’s Prone 1
Gold – Sarah Bettencourt (USA)
Silver – Paloma Onate (ESP)
Bronze – Jonne Moleman (NED)
Copper – Suzanne Edwards (ENG)

Men’s Prone 1
Gold – Kai Colless (AUS)
Silver – Joel Taylor (AUS)
Bronze – Cleuson Araujo (BRA)
Copper – Casey Proud (HAW)

Women’s Kneel / Upright
Gold – Audrey Pascual (ESP)
Silver – Vera Quaresma (BRA)
Bronze – Emma Dieters (AUS)
Copper – Erin Koffel (USA)

Men’s Kneel / Upright
Gold – Llywelyn ‘Sponge’ Williams (WAL)
Silver – Dariel Melendez (CRC)
Bronze – Altair Olivares (CHI)
Copper – Mark ‘Mono’ Stewart (AUS)

Women’s Prone 2
Gold – Jocelyn Neumueller (AUS)
Silver – Sarah Almagro (ESP)
Bronze – Georgina Melatini (ARG)
Copper – Beatrice Duran (FRA)

Men’s Prone 2
Gold – Freddy Marimon (COL)
Silver – Davi Teixeira (BRA)
Bronze – Cliff Gralton (AUS)
Copper – Jose Martinez (USA)

Women’s Stand 3
Gold – Charlotte Banfield (ENG)
Silver – Mireia Cabanes (ESP)
Bronze – Stella Papetti (ITA)
Copper – Ursula Pueyo (ESP)

Men’s Stand 3
Gold – Luciano Silveira (BRA)
Silver – Colin Cook (HAW)
Bronze – Eric Dargent (FRA)
Copper – Naomichi Katsukura (JPN)

Women’s Stand 2
Gold – Zoe Smith (ENG)

Men’s Stand 2
Gold – JP Veaudry (RSA)
Silver – Forrest Weinberg (USA)
Bronze – Nachman Balulu (ISR)
Copper – Philippe Naud (FRA)

Women’s VI 1
Gold – Marta Paço (POR)
Silver – Valentine Moskoteoc (FRA)
Bronze – Carmen Lopez (ESP)
Copper – Juliette Mas (FRA)

Men’s VI 1
Gold – Elias Ricardo Diel (BRA)
Silver – Thomas Da Silva (FRA)
Bronze – Ben Neumann (GER)
Copper – Kirk Watson (AUS)

Women’s VI 2
Gold – Alelí Medina (PUR)
Silver – Ling Pai (CAN)
Bronze – Heloise Lauriol (FRA)
Copper – Lou Mechiche (FRA)

Men’s VI 2
Gold – Pierot Gagliano (FRA)
Silver – Roy Calderon (CRC)
Bronze – Luis Medina (CHI)
Copper – Matt Formston (AUS)