Pure joy for teen surfer Louise
She was the first South African girl to earn a medal since the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games where Bianca Buitendag won silver.
Louise Lepront (15) put Scottburgh on the map with a sensational effort at the ISA World Junior Surfing Championship held at Surf City, El Salvador, last week.
She earned a bronze medal in the girls U16 category and was the only South African to get to the podium.
Overall, Australia won the team champs for the eighth time, Hawaii was second, France third and USA fourth. South Africa placed a commendable tenth.
The conditions at La Bocana were near-perfect for world champions to be crowned.
Clean, four-to-six-foot peaks at La Bocana made the entire lineup look like a playground.
With the wind holding off, Surf City El Salvador delivered endless opportunities for the world’s best junior surfers to earn their historic wins.
In what was described as an extremely tight final, Australian Ziggy Mackenzie took the gold medal, with silver snapped up by Clémence Schorsch of France.
Then came Louise with the bronze and copper to Eden Walla of the USA.
In the final, Louise went for a big close-out on her forehand, just not landing it to get the score she needed.
Clémence and Eden were both medalists last year, so Louise was certainly up against some high-quality surfers.
Louise, who is the daughter of Julien and Catherine, was the first South African girl to earn a medal since the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, where Bianca Buitendag won silver.
She is the reigning U16 and open SA champ, so is used to big events, but this was something special.
Her mother, Catherine, said she phoned home about 10 minutes after the final. “Pure joy and excitement is all I can say,” she smiled.
In last year’s champs, in tough conditions in Brazil, Louise fell out in the third round.
She used that disappointment to focus even harder this time around, showing more control and maturity.
Her older brother Luc was there to support her, at one stage quickly getting a dinged board fixed so that it would be ready for the final.
“He was a huge support to her, as was the entire SA team and management. The vibes were amazing, and this helped the surfers give of their best.”
At the closing ceremony ISA president, Fernando Aguerre, said it had been an incredible week, with some of the best waves in the history of the event in El Salvador.
He congratulated all the medalists, saying they were going home as champions and the top surfers in the world in the junior divisions.
“Some of you will be in the Olympics this year in Tahiti. Most of you will not, but you have the opportunity to be in the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles.”
No doubt Louise will have her sights set on that.
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