New talent shredding waves at Sea Harvest KZN Grommet Games

There is a new twosome in town and they are taking names.

Umdloti continues to churn out a good crop of wave assassins with a growing number of talented groms hustling to follow in the footsteps of local heroes like Matt Kruger, Bevan Willis, Dylan Stewart and Wade Simkiss.

Demi Rowe (16) and Jamaica Lamb (14) made a clean sweep in the U16 girls division at the Sea Harvest KZN Grommet Games, held on Saturday and Sunday March 21 and 22 at Durban’s Dairy Beach.

Rowe shredded the competition to pieces on her way to the final, with 2 out of 3 heat wins being combination situations.

Meanwhile, fellow Umdloti surfer, Jamaica Lamb also coasted to the final with three convincing heat wins.

The final was a two-way affair with the Umdloti duo dominating and putting the third and fourth placed surfers in combination situations.

Both Rowe and Lamb had their game faces on, but in the end there could be only one winner and Rowe took the win with a heat total of 13.66 over Lamb’s 7.47.

Rowe said the heat strategies that eThekwini Surf Riders team coach Shane Thorne taught her as well as his faith in her, played a huge role in her success.

Lamb’s coach, Mikey Venter, said her greatest strength was her ability to turn a weakness into a strength.

“Jamaica’s growth has been truly remarkable. When she first started training under me she was nervous of crowds and bigger waves but now she is confident paddling into pretty much any wave. Watching her confidence build throughout this past year has been an awesome journey,” he said.

Lamb said the take-off on big waves still made her nervous but she loved the feeling they gave her.