Rusty Gromfest 2006

Surfing Australia
Lennox Head, NSW
7  - 11 July 2006

Rusty Gromfest Off and Running in Great Surf at Lennox Head Beachbreak

Surfersvillage Global Surf News, 7 July, 2006 : - - The world's biggest, longest running and most prestigious grommet surfing festival began on the pristine Lennox Head beachbreaks in excellent 1 to 1.5m surf with Australia's and many of the worlds best young surfers attacking the offshore clean waves with the sort of enthusiasm and carefree attitude so typical of these elite youngsters.
 
Sunshine Coast surfer Chris Friend opened the day in the 16  Boys division  with an inspiring performance scoring an outstanding 9.25 and easily winning the heat with both the days highest single scoring ride and heat score of 17.25 out of a possible 20.
 
Friend is straight off a major grom event victory on the Gold Coast and is clearly  surfing  with confidence to compliment his power and style and the number one seed looks focused on another finals performance at this event.
 
Excellent wave scores requiring 8 points plus from the judges  were common throughout the day and when talented young Norahville NSW surfer Justin Cummings (15 years/ Central Coast) posted an early 8.5 ride in his heat everyone sensed an upset with local Byron Bay surfer seeded Garret Parkes struggling to link together a good ride.

Parkes won the 14 and under division last year at this event and was considered an excellent chance to double up and win again  but he never appeared comfortable today and eventually finished last in the heat to be eliminated!
 
Parkes has been suffering from an ear infection all week and it clearly affected his performance today but with a year still left in his 16 and under age division he'll now concentrate on duel Rusty titles for next year.
 
Cummings was pleased with his opening heat win but realizes there's a long way to go to achieve what he's here for - " That was a good opening heat for me but I'll have to build on that performance because there's a lot of excellent surfers to beat if I am to win here - It's my third and final year here and I'd love to win this one - It's one of the best events for us."
 
Other top performances today included Casuarina's Brent Savage, Coff's Harbours Billy Kean, WA surfer Shaun Howe , Gold Coast's Blake Ainsworth, Dean Bowen from Sth Coast NSW and Victorian surfers Todd Rosewall and Tom Allen who all posted strong wins in the 16 and under boys.
 
Round one winning quotes: 
 
Todd Rosewall
"So stoked just to get a start here, I was first reserve and when I heard I was in I was super keen to do well, The waves are great I scored well with an 8.5 and hopefully can go a long way further!"
 
Dean Bowen
"I really want to do well here because I'm off to France shortly for the King of Grom world event so to win here and take that form over to France would be great - It's such a good feel event and great place."
 
Brent Savage
I've had the flu the past few days and felt terrible before that heat - I still feel pretty sick but winning the heat has helped - I think I'm on the improve health wise and by winning today I have tomorrow off so come Sunday I'll be 100% and can hopeful go all the way here!" 
 
 
The 14 and under Boys division ran simultaneously in the unique but super well co ordinated duel bank situation at Lennox today and with some impressive winning performances from international competitors Enrique Aritu and Tamaroa McComb (both Tahiti) and New Zealand's Jonathon Hicks.
 
Tomorrow will see all divisions complete round one which includes 16,14 and 12 and under Girls along with 12 and under Boys with action packed full days of surfing through to Monday afternoons finals  with Tuesday as a back up day.

www.gromfest.com.au 

Previous reports:
# 1 : Rusty Gromfest Oz attracting world's best young surfers
# 2 : Rusty Gromfest Oz will be a battle of future champions
# 3 : Coming soon
# 4 : Coming soon  

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Steve Robertson

Groms - Surfersvillage