North Beach Bodyboarding Club Contest #1
posted by Robyn Sorensen Neary on 30th November 2005
The Central Kwa-Zulu Natal 2006 bodyboarding calendar, kicked off to a good start when the first bodyboarding contest for the new year was held on Sunday the 27th November 2005 at Durban’s North Beach.
The 1-2ft surf proved difficult for all the competitors. As the day progressed, the wind picked up, chopping up the waves a bit. The riders knew that the toughest competition would definitely be the waves.
There was a much bigger turn out then the previous contests, probably due to the added advertising there was for the contest. The entry forms were available from a lot more stores; posters were put up and were even displayed in car windows. The contest was also announced on East Coast Radio. There were five divisions in the contest, Ladies, U15, U20, Drop Knee and Pro.
In the Ladies division, 2005 U16 Girls SA Champ, Lize Mari Ras and 2004 SA Champ, Robyn Sorensen went head to head in a two man heat final. It was Robyn Sorensen who won in the end. Unfortunately it was only the two ladies in that division and would be challenging if more girls were encouraged to start body boarding and entering competitions.
The U15 division saw a lot of new faces which was really encouraging. In the final, we had new comer David Merideth, 2004 U12 SA Champ and multiple event winner, Dane Beales, 2005 U12 SA Champ, Adam Waites and 2005 Boys S.A Champ, Ian Campbell. The boys all fought their way through the heat wave after wave, each time bettering each others waves. However, 4th place went to David, behind Adam in 3rd place. Ian and Dane have always challenged each other for first position. This time it was Ian Campbell that claimed 1st place with Dane coming 2nd.
The U20 division, a new division with a lot of entrants, saw Michael Tarr, Jared Engelbrecht and 2005 Central Natal Team members, Rylin Richardson and Jason Duvenhage in the final. They fought hard in the trying conditions. 4th place went to Jason. Just ahead in 3rd place was Jared. Winning the u20 division was Rylin, and 2nd place went to Michael.
The Drop Knee division saw multiple times Central Natal Team members, Sascha Taljaard, Craig Maree, Stuart Bradford and seasoned competitor Ryan Edwards all making their way to the final. Sascha, not one for small waves, was placed 4th behind Ryan. Stuart, already winning a big contest earlier this year, was looking to win but unfortunately couldn’t stop Craig from tearing up the waves and winning the division.
In the Pro division we had multiple times Central Natal Team members Mark Watts and Wesley Fischer, Drop Knee finalist, Stuart Bradford and multiple times SA Champ and all time legend, Alistair Taylor. Alistair’s wife, two times World Champion Karla Costa Taylor, had entered the Pro division but unfortunately was eliminated in the earlier rounds. 18 year old Mark, proved to be tough competition for the other guys, but in the end was placed 4th, behind Stuart in 3rd place. Yet another nail biting show down between arguably the best two bodyboarders in South Africa, Wesley and Alistair. It was, however Alistair who clinched the title from Wesley. Alistair celebrated with a funny little victory dance.
Special thanks would like to go out to the Central Kwa-Zulu Natal Bodyboarding Association Committee members for putting such a fantastic contest together. Other thanks to J.M Tostee at Bad Boy Clothing for sponsoring all the prizes for all the finalists. And of course, thanks to all the parents, girlfriends, boyfriends, friends and supporters of the competitors who spent the full 10 hours on the beach, in the sun, most of them leaving looking like tomatoes.
For anybody out there keen to do a contest, either for fun of just to get some experience, keep an eye open for next North Beach Club Contest, hopefully some time during February. For all the other bodyboarders, next SABA contest is in Richards Bay from the 18th to 19th December 2005. There is a development division for those who have not entered into a SABA contest before, so if you’re keen to get some experience in contests or start to ride competitively, you should definatley get your hands on an entry form, available from www.sixty40.co.za
For any girls or ladies interested in getting involved in the sport of bodyboarding, which we desperately need, please email Robyn Sorensen at
[email protected]. Karla Costa Taylor is also coaching, so if you’re interested, even guys are welcome, please email her at
[email protected]
1784 views
Comments
