Ugu surfer Gary van Wieringen had, one supposes, a disappointing end to what had been an exciting time at the ISA World Masters Champs in El Salvador. After some blistering opening rounds, he narrowly missed out on the final and the chance for a medal in the grand masters (over 50) division. Australian Scott Schindler would go on to win it.
There was some consolation for the small South African team, with Heather Clark claiming silver in the women’s Grand Masters, this after sneaking in through the repechage round. Her event was won by Hawaiian Rochelle Ballard. Tyrell Johnson managed bronze in the masters division, won by Diego Rosa (Brazil).
In the team event, Brazil took gold, followed by Hawaii, Australia and France. The women’s masters (over 40) was won by Melanie Bartels (Hawaii). Tash Mentasti was unfortunate not to make it through to the final despite some gutsy surfing. In the women’s kahunas division (over 60), the gold went to Becky Benson (Hawaii), while in the men’s, Eric Graciet (France) placed first.
Team SA finished seventh overall out of 28 countries. This was quite an achievement for a team not having a surfer in two of the six divisions and without a coach and/or manager.
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