KZNSA Senior Champs

New Pier Durban South Africa
2 March 2008

KZNSA Senior Champs: A New Beginning

Surfersvillage Global Surf News, 4 March, 2008 : - - The Chemspec KZNSA Senior Champs were concluded on Sunday 2 March at New Pier, Durban in near perfect contest conditions. The clean 2-3ft swells and offshore winds on Sunday were a welcome change to the howling North-Easterly and washing machine conditions which surfers had to deal with on Saturday.

Despite the poor conditions during the first day of competition, the first round was completed, fortuitously leaving the semis and finals to be contested in the better conditions. John McCarthy won the seniors division, and so was the worthy recipient of the trip to Bali. The Palmboom family, who for many years have been well-known in Natal surfing circles, emphasized their dominance with three podium finishes.

In the Grand Masters division, Rudy Palmboom senior took third place, while siblings Rudy Junior and Heidi won the men’s and ladies open divisions respectively. Warren Wareing surfed consistently well to grab first place in the veterans division, while defending over 45 ISA World Champion Chris Knutsen surprised no one by surfing his way to victory in the Grand Masters division.

Knutsen, who leaves for Peru in 3 weeks time to defend his ISA title, will draw confidence from his performance in these championships where he hardly looked like losing. With his preparation going well, Knutsen is both “hopeful and confident” that he will be able to emulate his achievements at last years ISA World Championships.

Event director Brendan Callaghan was satisfied with how the championships unfolded, especially when considering that this was the first time in five years that Natal’s seniors have had the opportunity to fight it out for a provincial title. He described the champs as “very successful and very well supported, having brought back the stoke for the younger and older guys”.

ISA champ Knutsen also had only good things to say, where “sponsorship for this event was great, and was matched by the surfers support and ability”. After the success of this years senior champs, it is hoped that it can once again become an annual event.

www.durbansurfing.co.za
www.surfingsouthafrica.co.za

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Olivia Jones

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