Cooper Smith scores gold for iLembe in SA Surf Tour
Although his lead was established, he still needed a finals (top 4) berth in the Rip Curl Gromsearch Scottburgh to ensure his overall victory at the weekend.
Capping off his final season in iLembe colours, Cooper Smith recently surfed to victory in the U14 boys section of the South African Surf Tour (SAST).
The former Ballito resident has since moved to the Mother City and will surf for the Cape Town Surf Riders from next year, but gave iLembe the best send-off possible.
He has been a dominant force in his age group in this year’s SAST, where 10 events were held across the country over the past seven months.
The seven best results are taken from the series and Smith’s submissions included three wins and four second-placed finishes for a grand total score of 6 440 points.
His wins came at the Sea Harvest Nahoon Open in March, the Sea Harvest KZN Open in May and the Rip Curl Gromsearch Seal Point in July.
This was enough to beat his two closest challengers, Rory Dace and Josh Malherbe, who finished on 5 860 and 5 610 points respectively.
Photo: Dave Lindemann Photography.
Although Smith’s lead was established, he still needed a finals (top 4) berth in the Rip Curl Gromsearch Scottburgh to ensure his overall victory at the weekend.
He won the quarter-final round comfortably, with his combined score of 11.13 enough to see off Ry Colepepper (8.43) in second.
The semi-final was a closer fought affair however, as Smith’s early score of 10.10 was clawed at by the chasing pack of Nathan Tayler and Colepepper.
It ultimately proved good enough for second behind Matt Canning (12.07) however, cementing his place in the final and his overall win.
Nonetheless, Smith refused to rest on his laurels and came out swinging in the final.
The familiar top three of Smith, Dace and Malherbe all traded blows in the final with big wave scores throughout.
Ultimately Malherbe grabbed gold, with Smith and Dace in second and third, with just over one point in total score difference.
His next big test will be at the South African Junior Surfing Championships in Jeffrey’s Bay next month.
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