The main judges tower at the 2007 Quiksilver ISA WJSC in Portugal

2007 Quiksilver ISA World Junior Surfing Championships

International Surfing Association
Costa de Caparica, Portugal
4 - 13 May 2007

Live Coverage  |  Results/Photos/Videos etc

HISTORY MAKING 8 JUDGE PANEL PIONEERED BY THE ISA

Surfersvillage Global Surf News, 12 May, 2007 : - - A history making 8 judge panel (pioneered by the ISA) scored the surfers at the Quiksilver ISA World Junior Surfing Championships at Costa de Caparica, Portugal today.  

“The panel worked great.  Faster, more precise scores were the end result.  Head judges, judges and officials all agreed that we’ve seen the future today and it looks bright.” said ISA President Fernando Aguerre.

An 8 panel judging system operates in other sports such as ice-skating and is condsidered fairer and more accurate. In practise what happens is, the eight judges note their scores, the lowest two and the highest one are eliminated and the remaining 5 judges scores determine the score.

An eight man judging panel involves certain changes and expense for event organisers. The technincal team at the event were required to provide the additional terminals in the judging tower, and modify the software accordingly. The larger panel involves greater expense as there are three additional judges expenses for travel, accomodation and reimbursement.

Check the final day Live Coverage on Sunday, commentary by former World Champion Martin Potter.

History of Surfing, the ISA and the WJSC

The roots of surfing reach back to the early Pacific islands when the ancestors of Polynesians and others started exploring the ocean and islands around them. While there is no specific date as to when the first wave was ever surfed, it is generally known that by the 1700s, Hawaiians had begun to amaze foreign sailors and explorers with their wave-riding skills.

Surfing continued to develop in Hawaii and gained international importance in the 1900s when the famous Hawaiian surfer Duke Kahanamoku won the gold medal for swimming in the 1912 Olympic Games. Within the context of public relations, an exhibition tour was organized throughout the world, which enabled many countries to be exposed to surfing. As a result, surfing grew in popularity, and in 1964 during the first World Surfing Championships near Sydney, Australia, the ISF (International Surfing Federation) was created. This association gathered all the surfing nations together and began organizing world championships every other year. In November 1976, in Hawaii, the ISF gave way to the ISA (International Surfing Association).

The ISA is the world’s governing authority for surfing and all its disciplines, including bodyboard, kneeboard, longboard, skimboard and bodysurf. The ISA governs the sports and works for their development in its member nations and the establishment of the sport of surfing in new places.

Every other year, the ISA holds the World Surfing Games for ISA’s member nations. Historically, the World Surfing Games grants to its winners the title of “World Champion.” The ISA also sanctions a large number of competitions worldwide. The ISA World Surfing Games is also one of the largest events in competitive surfing.

The first year in which the biennial World Surfing Games held a Juniors division was 1980 in Biarritz, France. With the huge and continuing growth of surfing worldwide, as well as in junior surfing performance and participation, in 2002, the ISA wisely decided to hold the Junior division of the World Surfing Games in its very own annual event, separate from the World Surfing Games. The plan of separating these events is to provide twice the amount of competitions and opportunities for the younger athletes as well as for a larger number of hosting nations. The former Junior division of the World Surfing Games, along with what used to be the annual Quiksilver ISA World Grommet titles, were consolidated into this new event, the ISA World Junior Surfing Championships, which was first hosted in 2003 in South Africa. This event in Portugal will however be the 17th ISA Junior event and the 3rd ISA WJSC sponsored by Quiksilver.

Since 1996, the Sands of the World Ceremony have been held during the Opening Ceremony of the WSG to represent the true fraternal spirit that bonds together all members of the Surfing Tribe. The WJSC has also taken on this ISA tradition in its Opening Ceremonies. The Union of the countries of the world in this ceremony is done through the mixing of the sands from the shores of all participating delegations, symbolizing the ISA hopes for a peaceful world.

The ISA will continue to promote these Games as the true “Olympics” of surfing. With gold, silver bronze, and copper medals awarded, the athletes will be competing for the honor to represent their country and national colors and will surf for the pure joy of it, in the true nature of surfing’s aloha spirit.

WATCH THIS EVENT LIVE ON YOUR COMPUTER SCREEN: Go to www.isasurf.org or www.quiksilver.com/isa and watch the event and scores live, while listening to commentary by former World Champion Martin Potter.

Official reports:
# 1 : Quiksilver ISA World Jr Surfing Champs set for Portugal
# 2 : 30 teams heading to Quiksilver ISA World Jnrs. Champs
# 3 : Teams arriving for Quiksilver ISA World Jr Surf Champs
# 4 : 28 countries present at Quiksilver ISA World Jr opening
# 5 : Quiksilver ISA World Juniors lifts off in small, clean surf

# 6 : Quiksilver ISA World Jr Champs day two gets better surf
# 7 : Latin American, Polynesians shine at ISA Juniors day #3
# 8 : Scorching day 4 in and out of water for ISA World Junior
# 9 : South American surfing shines at Quiksilver ISA Juniors
# 10 : High stakes action on day #6 of Quiksilver ISA World Jr
# 11 :

www.isasurf.org
www.quiksilver.com/isa
http://isa2007.surf.sapo.pt/home.asp

About International Surfing Association (ISA)
The International Surfing Association (ISA) is recognized by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) as the World Governing Authority for surfing, bodyboarding and surfriding. It was originally founded as the International Surfing Federation in 1964 and has been running world championships since 1964 and the Junior World Championships since 1980.

ISA membership includes the surfing National Governing Bodies (NGBs) of over 50 countries on six continents. Its headquarters are located in San Diego, California. It is presided by Fernando Aguerre, first elected in 1994 in Rio, and re-elected six times since.  The ISA's four Vice Presidents are Alan Atkins (Australia), Robin de Kock (South Africa), Maile Aguerre (Hawaii) and Mike Gerard (USA). 

About Quiksilver
Quiksilver, Inc. (NYSE:ZQK) is the world's leading outdoor sports lifestyle company, which designs, produces and distributes a diversified mix of branded apparel, wintersports and golf equipment, footwear, accessories and related products.  The Company's apparel and footwear brands represent a casual lifestyle for young-minded people that connect with its boardriding culture and heritage, while its wintersports and golf brands symbolize a long standing commitment to technical expertise and competitive success on the mountains and on the links.

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