The opening day of the third and final event of the Woolworths WA Junior Surf Titles presented by SunSmart kicked off under sunny skies with fun metropolitan waves on offer for the field of close to 100 surfers who converged from right across WA.
Despite a less than favourable forecast, Trigg Beach served up 1-2 feet waves that combined with light and variable winds to provide an exciting and competitive arena for some of WA’s best junior surfers.
A high standard of surfing was set early by the blue ribbon Under-18 Boys and Girls divisions, who tore the waves at Trigg Beach apart with ease.
George Simpson (Gracetown), Ash Spencer (Yallingup) and Jack Mitchell (Margaret River) highlighted an impressive opening round of the Under-18 Boys. While, Zali Hewson (Margaret River) Sklya Tothill (Sorrento) and Mylee Grant (Geraldton) stole the show for the female competitors.
Hewson dropped one of the highest individual scores of the day, an excellent 8.63 (from a possible 10) and she also posted one of the best combined totals of the day as well, posting an imposing 15.63 (from a possible 20).
“The waves are actually really fun out there,” said Hewson. “There’s rights and lefts rolling through and plenty of opportunity so I’m happy with that heat.”
The good run of conditions conditioned for the Under-16 Boys, with Jake Hagan (Geraldton), Macklin Flynn (Cowaramup), and Otis North (Yallingup) all progressing through to tomorrow’s semi finals alongside Jack Mickle (Trigg), Kai Maggs (Surf Beach), Jesse Siedmiogrodzki (City Beach), Brock Launders (Margaret River) and Travis Barkhuizen (Elington).
The Under-12 Micro Groms division provided plenty of thrills and spills, with a look into the future of surfing in WA revealing the sport is in very safe hands based off the performance of those that hit the water today.
When the forecast change in weather arrived, it hit Trigg Beach with a bang, bringing squally winds and horizontal rain that made the going tough in the water and on the beach. Event officials were forced to cut the day short four heats early as conditions continued to worsen.
The Under-14 Boys will commence tomorrow’s proceedings from 7 a.m. sharp, with finals set to hit the water by the early afternoon. Conditions are set to improve with light winds and a bigger swell forecast for finals day.
Woolworths are committed to encouraging healthy eating habits amongst Aussie kids and gave away over 25 million pieces of free fruit last year as part of their free fruit for kids program.
Surfing WA will be streaming live heat scores and results so people can to follow the event anywhere on the planet. Be sure to check out www.surfingwalive.com.au
For more information on this or any other WA event be sure to log onto www.surfingwa.com.au and follow Surfing WA’s social media platforms for event updates and information.
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