Epic rides for grom surfers at St Mike’s
Five Ugu surfers made it to the semi-finals in the different sections.
National junior surfing team members, Kayla Nogueira of Umhlanga and Luke Thompson of Durban won the U16 Girls and U16 Boys titles respectively at the Sea Harvest South Coast Gromcomp presented by Ugu South Coast Tourism at St Mike’s beach last weekend.
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Both surfers worked hard for their wins in the contestable three to four foot surf and their victories in the premier divisions at the event earned them some much needed prize money and a handful of SA Surf Tour ratings points.
Of the local surfers, Kira Attfield and Louise Lepront made it to the semi-finals of the U12 girls event.
Other semi-finalists were Evan Spittal (U14 Boys), Jesse Powell (U16 Girls) and Jordan Boshoff (U16 Boys).
Talented Gabi Herbst of Durban came second to Nogueira, Sarah Scott of Kommetjie took third spot and Anastasia Venter of Melkbosstrand was fourth.
Herbst, Scott and Venter are all U12 years old and the three competitive young surfers are certainly the future of South African women’s surfing.
In the U16 Boys final Thompson beat fellow Durban surfer and teammate in the national junior team, Tide Lee Ireland into second place.
James Ribbink of Durban North was third and Dominic Southwood of Ballito came fourth.
In the U14 Boys final Ribbink turned the tables on Thompson to take the win. Matt O’Brien of East London was third and Christian Venter of Melkbosstrand came fourth.
In the U12 Girls final Sarah Scott edged Anastasia Venter into the runner-up spot with local girl, Mayah Potgieter taking third ahead of Gabi Herbst.
A stoked Matt Canning of Durban, son of former national team member and pro surfer, Paul Canning, took the U12 Boys title ahead of Josh Malherbe of Coffee Bay.
Josh is the son of David Malherbe, another former national team member and pro surfer who competed against Paul on many occasion in the late ’80s and early ’90s.
Ntokozo Maphumulo, a product of the SA Surfing Legends High Performance Academy, was third and fellow Durban surfer Kai Hall came fourth.
Surfers from all parts of the country competed in this 1A rated South African Surf Tour Event which offered in excess of R15 000 in prize money and SAST ratings points across the five divisions.
The Sea Harvest South Coast Gromcomp presented by Ugu South Coast Tourism was expertly hosted by the Ugu Surfriders committee and was supported by local companies.
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