Cooper Smith makes barrels look easy at Sea Harvest KZN Junior Open
He recently moved to Cape Town from Ballito, but will surf the rest of this season in iLembe colours before transferring to Western Province next year.
Cooper Smith continued his fine run of form, claiming yet another victory at the Sea Harvest KZN Junior Open surfing event on Sunday.
Relocated to Willard Beach this past weekend as eThekwini beaches remain unusable, Smith was able to harness his knowledge of his former home break to take the title.
The Junior Open was the fourth event on Surfing South Africa’s junior tour, in which surfers from across the country face off to gain qualification for next year’s world junior championships.
Events are split between prime and satellite status, with 1 000 and 500 points on offer respectively.
The Junior Open was prime listed, which meant stiff competition from across the country. Winners also split a pot of R24 000.
Photos: Dawn Rouse.
So far this year Smith has surfed in three events – winning two and taking second place in the third, leaving him comfortably on top of the U14 boys leaderboard.
This podium streak helped him to keep his nerve in the tight head-to-head format held on Saturday and Sunday.
He won his first heat, edging past Westbrook’s Ashton Sangster before finishing second in a close fought semi-final against eThekwini’s Matt Canning.
Picking his moment and saving the best for last in the final, Smith delivered his highest single wave and combined scores of the whole event.
A second wave of 8.63 set the tone and his last outing of 5.25 ensured a reasonably comfortable victory, beating out Canning in the rematch by just under two points.
iLembe’s young riders also performed well. Levi Vosloo (fourth, U12 boys), Maxine Kauffman (second, U14 girls) and Mayah Potgieter (third U16 girls and fourth U18 girls) all made their respective finals.
iLembe’s next big event is on June 4 and 5, where surfers of all age groups – including adults – will compete for team selection for the inter-provincial championships later this year.
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