The 19th annual Billabong Occy’s Grom Comp pres. by Sun Bum concluded today in perfect 3ft waves amidst wet and wild conditions at Snapper Rocks on the Gold Coast. Despite the bleak weather, there was plenty of opportunity for some of Australia’s best and International grommets to display their skills.
Snapper Rocks local, Zyah Hession claimed victory in flawless conditions against his friend and training partner, Jimmi Hill (Coolangatta) in the Under 18 boys final. With only two waves surfed by Hession, it was all he needed to get the win, displaying his local knowledge of this world-class wave.
“That first wave when I scored the 8.5 points felt so surreal,” said Hession.
“I just saw that it had a nice wall and I was stoked to get a good start to the heat. Then I knew I needed a back-up, especially against Jimmi, so I was lucky to get a great wave straight after it.”
The marquee Under 18 girls division had a slow start with the waves, but the competitors used them wisely, displaying textbook-level surfing. Western Australia competitor, Ruby Berry effortlessly landed high scores on her two waves and got her second win ever on the East Coast.
“Milla and I are always friends on the beach, but we were both so competitive today in the water, especially given how good the conditions were,” said Berry
“I’ve actually only won one event on the East Coast when I was 12, so this is definitely the biggest win of my career so far! Shout out to my dad for being so supportive and travelling with me and all my sponsors.”
Before all the excitement of the finals took place, Occy and friends took to the water to battle it out in a friendly but fierce legends heat. It was stacked with talent across all ages including, Occy, Joel ‘Parko’ Parkinson, Dingo Morrison, Jay Occhilupo, Jay Phillips, Kyuss King and Jonah Occhilupo. From sharing waves, to radical aerial manoeuvres, this all-stars heat had it all.
The Under 12 girls final saw massive scores produced by Everly Morgan (Mollymook Beach) in the first final of the day. Her flawless technique at such a young age, was reflected in her impressive 16.10 heat total (out of a possible 20-points).
It was a neck and neck, man-on-man heat in the Under 12 boys final, with Snapper local, Thomas Bourke (Tugun) and elite Italian junior, Rocco Rigliaco (Italy). Rigliaco’s last wave was the best of the heat, scoring an 8.33 (out a possible 10-points). The groms ran into the water chairing up Rigliaco and splashing water in celebration.
Leihani Kaloha Zoric (Broken Head) made short work of the Under 14 girls final, scoring a 9.10 on a picturesque Snapper Rocks wave, bolstering a near perfect heat total of 17.60. She held a First Nations flag proudly above her head, as she was chaired up the beach.
The rain shrouded the horizon as the wave quality continued to increase for the Under 14 boys. Locana Cullen (Avalon Beach) led for the first 15-minutes of the 20-minute heat, until Luca Martin (Coolangatta) found a wave to back up his strong 8.17. Martin claimed victory for the second time in two weeks after his win at the Queensland Grommet Surfing Titles Event Two.
Lucy Darragh (Gerringong) kicked off the Under 16 girls final with an impressive 7.00 ride, immediately establishing herself as a serious contender against the current State Champion, Eliza Richardson (Sunshine Beach). Richardson made a strong comeback with what commentators called the “snap of the comp,” but Darragh capitalised on the bigger wave behind it, raising her heat total to 15.17 points.
In the last two-minutes of the heat, Richardson went to town on her back-hand getting an 8.67 overtaking Darragh. It was all decided in the nail-biting final seconds of the heat, when Darragh found the wave of the day and was crowned the champion of the Under 16 girls with a 9.10.
Arguably some of the best surfing seen in the event, Ben Zanatta (Dee Why) got an early lead against Jesse Fergusson (Sunshine Beach) in the finals of the Under 16 boys. He claimed victory with the highest scoring wave of the day with a 9.80, running all the way from Snapper Rocks to Little Marley.
The live webcast featured an all-star cast comprising of Wayne ‘Rabbit’ Bartholomew, Vaughan Blakey, Stace Galbraith, Jesse Starling and Laura Enever, plus special guests throughout the event.
Click here to see the full results from today.
The Billabong Occy’s Grom Comp 2024 Presented by Sun Bum is Proudly supported by Snapper Surfriders Club, Surfing Queensland, Yeti, FCS, JS Surfboards, Surf lakes, S&S Projects, Stryker, Kustom, Kirra Surf and Rainbow Bay Surf life Saving Club.
