Weekend Argus (Saturday Edition)
To practise riding artificial waves
value, there’s a severe deficit.
The criteria released by the IOC allows for 20 men and 20 women based partly on WSL rankings at the end of 2019, results at International Surfing Association (ISA) World Surfing Games, Pan American Games, regional allocations and host nation slots.
Professional WSL surfer Kanoa Igarashi – a Japanese expat living in the US – even changed his nationality from the US to Japan because he automatically qualifies for one of two host nation spots.
Surfing South African adminis- trator Robin de Kock said the top 10 male surfers and eight female surfers on the WSL Championship Tour (CT) at the end of 2019 would qualify. However, this was limited to two males and two females from any one country, which made it very tight for the US because the Hawaiians have to surf for the USA (they surf as Hawaii at ISA team events).
De Kock said it was guaranteed at least one surfer would represent each continental region: Africa, North America, Pan America, Europe, Asia and Oceania as the top ranked CT surfers from these regions. It was important that our contenders Jordy Smith, Mikey February and Bianca Buitendag surfed in the ISA World Games as insurance, he said.
There you have it.
Mikey February will surf the entire 2018 tour after he got a wildcard for the Rip Curl Pro Bells Beach next week. Kelly Slater’s foot injury is still not right. At least this time Kelly gave February time to prepare. After Bells, Mikey is officially on tour. Good luck! The best waveski surfers from South Africa are in Lamberts Bay on the West Coast for the annual Western Province Open this weekend. The event will be held at YoYos.
More than 120 of South African’s most talented young surfers from diverse communities and cultures from eight Districts and three Provinces will compete in the 26th Sea Harvest South African Grommet Games at Pollock Beach in Nelson Mandela Bay this weekend. The Games was introduced after unification in 1991 as part of Surfing’s commitment to transformation and development.
A new groundswell slowly fills in today, solid 6’+ surf by evening. Glassy seas or light SW to W breezes. Muizenberg fun 2- 3’. Good rain showers arrive from noon, gone by evening.
Sunday looks solid 6-8’ in light W going moderate and lumpy. Muizenberg fun 3’ and nice and clean.