18th April 2010
Today I have some really good news for you ... I claimed a 2nd behind Damian King at the 2010 Soldiers beach pro, which is the 2nd event on the IBA world tour for 2010. It also happens to the 2nd stop on the Australian tour for 2010, carrying a hefty 5 star status.
Filmed and edited by Luke Bickley
Round 4
I started the event in Round 4, seeded into the top 16 via my 3rd place at Pipe putting me as 12th seed and drawing 3rd seed Ben Player. Sam Bennett and Nathan Branch filled up the other 2 spots through qaulifying heats. First heat and it was a tough one, Sam and I both started our campaign early and then backed it up with good enough scores to hold our advancing positions through the whole heat, seeing Sam win and me getting through in 2nd. I was stoked to have beaten Ben, he is such a good competitor, I look forward to facing him again this year, as I'm sure he does me.
Round 5
This event made use of the man on man format from Round 5, a first for me and many of the other young competitors. Round 5 was the round of 16, so the competition was really, really tight from here on out. My RD5 heat against Dan Worsley, was by far the hardest heat I have surfed so far and by the end of it I was exhausted. Dan still holds the Master/student image over me, so I was intimidated from the outset. I ended up winning, through a better understanding of the priority format, whereas Dan was unlucky and made simple errors which eventually cost him. This weak victory really pushed me to go on to the final, to prove to myself I deserved to be there.
That was it for the day, and we headed back to my good mate and Turbo Team Rider Shaun Petersons place for a BBQ with all the boys and parents. It was a great evening even though I was super tired and headed to bed early! I needed my sleep for the big day following.
Quarter Finals
Sunday morning greeted us with good, clean contestable waves and I was up in 1/4 Final number 2 against Sam Bennet, the wonderkid from Port Macqaurie. It's tough competing against someone your age, it's just that much more competitive. Sam started off strong, but I was hungry and made a point of doing flips of heavier sections to cement my lead. With 5 mins to go I held priority and finished the heat in 1st place, with Sam not able to find the 6 point score he needed. I was pumped, I was down to the last 4, but intent on going all the way.
Semi Finals
Semi Final Number 1, Amaury and myself. This was a big heat for me. He had beaten me in Hawaii to take the win at Pipe, and I was super keen to get one up on him. I started early getting 2 strong rides and combo'ing him for the first 15 mins, he gradually made his way back up but still needed an 8. 20 with 5 mins to go. I held priority and kept him in my sights. With 1 min to go he found a 6 but it was not enough. I had to go underwater for a bit to gather myself before heading to the beach, I had made 3 finals in the 3 events I had entered and I was just so stoked!
The Final
I really wish I had something cool to write about the Final, but to tell you the truth it was pretty uneventful. My 2 scores were a 5 something and 6.70. I felt I could of been scored higher and my 2nd wave with a Backflip and 3 rolls, but the Judges decision is what goes. Kingy surfed well and was a good competitor, Holding priority over me for the final 15 mins, while not one set came through! Pretty frustrating end to the event, but I was so happy for my team mate and hero as I know how hard he works towards his goals and I can relate to that. He was so cool to me in the water, and that totally made me forget about losing! It's a win win for Turbo too, so I'm stoked.
The presentation was really cool, I was stoked with the things that were said about me and I am just so grateful to be apart of this amazing sport and compete at this level.
I'm back in Avalon now, everyone has gone to bed after a few drinks for my 21st on Thursday, I'll be jetting off somewhere tommorow morning to get my head in gear for South America.
Thanks to everyone back home who was following the event and once again thanks to everyone for the support via my Facebook and this blog! Keep reading and give me some feedback! I love hearing from you! Keeps me going.
Jerry
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