South Africa finishes 10th at the “Olympics of Surfing”

The South African surfing team finished 10th out of the 47 nations carving through the waves at the 2017 ISA World Surfing Games that ended in Biarritz, France last weekend.

Salt Rock’s Shane Sykes represented the Dolphin Coast in the SA team and finished 33rd overall.

“France is always fun, although the waves could have been better and the water was cold,” said Sykes during his quick stopover in his home town for the Ballito Pro 2017 presented by Billabong launch today, before heading off to Cape Town.

The South African team, managed by Isaac February and coached by Greg Emslie, started the event well with all four men and both women progressing directly from their round 1 heats to round 2, avoiding the cutthroat repercharge round.

Tanika Hoffman (Sea Point) among the women and David van Zyl (Glenashley) in the men’s event were eliminated in round 2, with vice-captain Dylan Lightfoot (Jeffreys Bay), Brandon Benjamin (Steenberg) and Sykes all failing to advance from their round 3 encounters.

France, the hosts for the annual event known as the “Olympics of Surfing”, won the team gold medal, securing the coveted title for the first time in the 53 years history of the event.

Portugal took the silver medal for the third year in a row, while Spain claimed the bronze and outsiders Mexico earned their first team medal with the copper.

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