Future surf stars to hit the waves
COMPETITIVE surfing will make its return this weekend with a host of Gold Coast talent set to feature in the Queensland State Grommet Surfing Titles.
The series has unearthed the likes of Mick Fanning, Joel Parkinson and Bede Durbidge and there are five Gold Coast surfers right in the hunt to win and secure their place in the state team for the Australian Junior Surfing Titles, to be held later this year.
Among them is Snapper Rocks Surfriders members Marlon Harrison, 16, Raya Campbell, 16, and Ty Richardson, 14, as well as Burleigh’s Chez Bos, 12, and Currumbin Alley’s Jorday Halford, 12.
Bos, known for his huge backhand manoeuvres, won last year’s under-14 boys division and is now stepping up to the under-16 juniors division.
Halford took out last year’s under-14 girls division and Harrison won the under-16 category and will step up to the under-18s.
Campbell is known for her powerful turns and isn’t scared to take on big swell while Richardson is hungry for redemption after finishing second to Harrison last year.
Last year’s under-12 boys champion Mitchell Peterson, from Noosa, is stepping up to the under-14 boys division and is keen to get started.
“It’s good to be doing competitions again, I can see how my heat strategies are going and how everybody else is surfing,” Peterson said.
“Last year was really good, we had to move locations to find a better spot and there was a fun left-hander. I made it all the way through to a close final – I caught a wave in the last 20 seconds and managed to get the win.”
Surfing Queensland CEO Adam Yates said he was excited to be offering surfing competitions once again after the COVID-19 outbreak.
“This has been a difficult time for the competitive surfers of Queensland,” he said.