Champ, 14, wins after pestering her mum
Ava Henderson had to convince her mother to let her enter in the open women’s division ahead of the national surfing championships.
The 14-year-old New Zealand junior representative was going into the event with goals of winning the under-16 girls’ title and doing well in the under-18s field. Competing in the open division was about the love of the sport.
“Nobody really wanted me to do three divisions because they thought I’d be too tired out,” Henderson told the Herald on Sunday.
“I convinced Mum to let me do the opens . . . just kept pestering her about it over Christmas.”
Now, Henderson is the New Zealand women’s champion.
The Christchurch grommet became the second youngest winner of the open women’s division at Dunedin’s St Clair beach yesterday, posting an impressive heat total of 14.03 in the final.
Auckland’s Gabrielle Paul finished second, defending champion Aimee Brown was third.
Henderson also won the under-18 girls division, and finished third in the under16s. So although she won more titles than expected, competing in three divisions took its toll.
“I’m so tired. I did four 25-minute heats today. I can barely move now; I just want to go to sleep.”
In the men’s division, Piha’s Elliot Paerata-Reid finally claimed his maiden title in his fourthstraight open men’s final, overcoming Raglan powerhouse and seven-time national champion Billy Stairmand.
Paerata-Reid, who spends much of his year chasing waves on the World Surf League’s qualifying series, finished with a heat total of 15.17 from a possible 20.
“I’ve been dreaming of lifting the trophy up for a while now, so it’s good to get the actual feeling,” he told Radio Sport. “It was good to finally get one under the belt, so hopefully there’s more to come.”
Paerata-Reid was also quick to congratulate Henderson on her accomplishments, and said they were a good indicator of the surfing talent in New Zealand.
“It’s massive for her to take out the open; she’s probably going to be competing in that division for the next 30 years I’d say,” he said of Henderson.
“That’s super impressive . . . it shows how good the up and coming youth is in New Zealand.”