iLembe’s top surfers back in action

iLembe’s surfing fraternity is back in a competitive flow, with the year’s first district trials taking place over the past two weekends.

The groms (U8-U16) were in action on February 11 and 12, while juniors (U12-U18), open (18-35) and masters (35+) surfed this past weekend.

For the groms, it was a direct trial to qualify for entry into the Grommet Games which will be held in Durban in late March, ensuring the young surfers were highly motivated.

In the boys category, Seth Seppings (U8), Jackson Meyers (U10), Levi Vosloo (U12), Callan Oldreive (U14) and Sbonginkosi Mthembu (U16) all took home gold.

Meyers’ single heat score of 11.67 was the highest of the weekend.

The girls were similarly impressive, with Ella van der Made (U10), Coco Clark (U12), Zoey Seppings (U14) and Lola Wang (U16) the top finishers in their age groups.

It was the turn of the wider community this last weekend who surfed in the first trial which will eventually decide the team that iLembe sends to the various national championships.

This was just the first heat however, and the surfers will all get another opportunity to better their standings later in the year.

In the junior boys contest, Marcello Zedde continued his good form to win the U12 category, while Nathan Tayler (U14), Nqubeko Nzuza (U16) and Kai May (U18) were also victorious.

Maxine Kauffman grabbed the U14 girls event, with Catherine Jacob claiming the U16 lead, later finishing second to Gabi Lailvaux in the open women’s section.

Karl Steen was in white-hot form in the strong open men’s category, winning his quarter-final, semi-final and final, never dipping below a score of 11.93.

In the four masters categories, a combined scoring system was used, with the top surfer in each decided by using scores over two heats.

Allan Johns (35+), Lyle Bottcher (45+), Andrew Banks (50+) and Chris Morris (60+) were the most consistent on the day and will be best placed going into the next set of trials.

The trials and all district events hosted locally are overseen by the iLembe Surf Riders Association, more information on which you can find at ilembesurfriders.co.za.

On that site, you can also become a member and enter future events, which includes the association’s annual fundraising golf day.

It will be played at Umhlali Country Club on March 10. Click the events tab of the site to find out more.

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