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SA Champs 2010 Day 1

posted by Jonathan Oliff on 26th September 2010

Women's, Boys, Men's, Masters, Grand Masters and Pro divisions all had a chance to surf today at SUN COAST Beach. With light winds and a fun swell pushing through on this beautiful spring day. Waves improved throughout the day, allowing the Pro division to show their stuff off at the end of the day.

Women's division riders Niki Gericke (EP) and Suzie Vester (NKZN) fought it out in a closely contested heat, making the judges work for their money early on Sunday morning. Janice de Kock (WP) dominated in the next heat securing a solid maximum score of 300 points for her efforts.

Martin Otto was an early standout, with a solid outside wave. It was actually the first wave of the contest that the judges marked in the 'Very Good' category, scoring 7s and above.

Josh Kleve has been putting in a lot of time in the water and this could be seen in his riding as he destroyed the competition in his heat. The Southern KwaZulu Natal got off to a great start in the Men's division with Rayner Venter and Jaryd Van Daalen securing 300 points each for their sides. Central KZN's Peter Oberholzer did really well to win his heat, whilst George Wolfaard (Bol) and Jonathan Bernon (NKZN) took first place awards away from the rest of the riders in their respected heats.

Winning their first round heats in the Boy's division, Niklas Martin (EP), Michael Searle (EP), Wesley Coetzee (SKZN), Ethan Koopsmans (WP) and Warren du Preez (SKZN) made sure that everyone on the beach was confident in the up and coming generation of Boy's riders. Everyone in South African Bodyboarding remembers how Alistair Taylor graduated through the ranks of Boy's division to eventually become a world title contender and National Hero of the Sport.

In the Grand Masters division Mike "MJ" van Huyssteen claimed that conditions pushed him to another level and it showed as he made short work of his adversaries collecting his 300 points.

The Pro Division was as explosive as ever, with Iain Campbell (CKZN) ramping into an invert and making sure of his backup wave. SA Champion 2009 Sacha Specker (WP) started consistently with some flowing bash reverses. Warren Canepa (EP) flipped out of the bowl and straight into another forward spin, leaving spectators in awe. As the South West really started to gust Michael Ostler (CKZN) put together some good combo's to win his heat, as did Wesley Fischer (CKZN). Stef Coetzee (NKZN) threw down a big back flip as his heat drew to a close, making the Totalizes job more difficult by bringing the placements on a knife's edge. The final pro heat of the day was a slugfest that would have impressed everyone on the beach that had managed not to blow away in the gusts that was stripping the beach. Derek Footit (SKZN) and Mark McCarthy (NKZN) both had two high scoring rides with back-ups, but McCarthy managed to edge out Footit and claim his first SA Champs Pro round one win in a couple of years. Mark knows when to peak though as he has made the finals of SA Champs 2008 and 2009, he won in 2008 and placed 3rd in 2009.

Everyone packed up and rushed out of the wind into the safety of the bustling Sun Coast Casino and Entertainment World. The event will kick off at 08:00am tomorrow morning at SUN COAST Beach; SABA would like to thank the sponsors for their support today. The 2010 SA Championships have been sponsored by the EThekwini Municipality, Suncoast Casino & Entertainment World, Nando's, Gotcha, Turbo Bodyboards and Power Balance.

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