O'Neill SA Jr Surfing Champs

Surfing South Africa
Port Elizabeth South Africa
26 - 30 September 2007

Offshore winds and clean surf greet contestants on Day Two of the 2007 O'Neill SA Junior Surfing Champs

Surfersvillage Global Surf News, 28 September, 2007 : - - After gale force winds had contestants, spectators and officials running for cover on Day One of the O'Neill SA Junior Surfing Championships, Port Elizabeth relented, switching the wind from onshore to offshore and allowing contestants to enjoy clean 2-3 foot surf throughout the day.

First up on Day Two were the surfers in the competitive Under 12 boys division where Southern KZN surfer Slade Prestwich, Josh Smit of KZN, Dylan Lightfoot of EP and Diran Zakarian all won their first round heats. WP's Max Armstrong and Benjamin de Castro and Daniel Buitendag and Arthur Withers of Southern Cape all came second in their heats and are through to Round Three.

The second day of this five day tournament featured the first Round of the U18, U16 and U14 girls divisions where there was some standout surfing and a couple of upsets.

Defending U18 champion Nikita Robb of Border, Michelle Imeson of KZN, Chantelle Rautenbach of Boland and Roche Lourens, who hails from Boland but is surfing for Southern KZN, all won their heats and will advance to Round Three along with second placed surfers Alexandra Britz of Border, Amber Kilfoil of KZN, O'Neill team rider Danielle Johnson, who is representing Southern Cape, and Tarryn Chudleigh of WP.

In the U16 group Tanika Hoffman and Holly Armstrong of WP, Laurie Mc Gregor of Border and Boland's Morag Steele won their heats and will go directly into Round Three along with Puvashnee Nydoo and Jessica Swart of KZN, Alice Mc Gregor of Border and Laura Oppel of Southern KZN, who all posted second place results in their heats.

The U14 girls division saw defending champion Bianca Buitendag of Southern Cape, Heidi Palmboom and Sarah Baum of KZN and Cara Mac Donald of Border taking first place in their respective heats. Joining them in Round Three courtesy of second place in their heats are Heather Klug of Southern KZN, Tammy Wynand of Boland, Sabrina Scott of WP and Marianna Meyer of Southern Cape.

The Round Two repercharge rounds for the U18 and U16 boys were also completed on Day two and in this round only the surfers who finished first and second progressed. Those surfers who missed the cut will watch the rest of this year’s championships from the beach. After a disastrous first round SA Junior team captain Klee Strachan of Southern KZN came back with a vengeance to win his heat from team mate Kyle Whittaker who also advanced.

Southern Cape's Lourens Van Zyl and Bjorn Larsen of Boland, Donovan Zoetmulder and EP team mate Justin Grey and two surfers from the Development Academy team, Jonathan Barendse and James Maddocks. all made the cut to Round Three. The offshore winds at the Pipe are set to continue for the next few days and the swell is predicted to increase dramatically over the weekend.

Day Three will feature the first round of the U12 girls, the U12 and U14 second rounds, the U14, U16 and U18 girls’ second rounds, the U14, U16 and U18 boys' third rounds and will end with the third round in the U18 girls division.

The 2007 O'Neill South African Junior Championships is a premier Surfing South Africa's tournament. The event was first held in 1996 and is now one of the most important events of the Surfing South Africa contest calendar as it not only determines National Champions in the Under 18, Under 16, Under 14 and Under 12 boys and girls age divisions but also decides the winning provincial team each year.

The defending champions are KwaZulu-Natal with hosts Eastern Province, Western Province, Boland, Border, Southern Cape, Southern KZN and the SA Development Academy team all participating. The heats, daily information and pictures of the 2007 O'Neill SA Junior Championships are available online.

Previous reports:
# 1 : O'Neill S.A. Junior Surfing Champs set for Port Elizabeth
# 2 : O'Neill SA Jr. Surfing Champs underway at Pollack Beach
# 3 : Coming soon
# 4 : Coming soon  

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