Sunshine Beach State High’s surf team, known as Excellence in Surfing (EIS), has been invited to compete in the world scholastic championships in Hawaii in July.
EIS co-ordinator and president of Queensland School Surfing Kurt Barrow said the team had won selection for the Iolani Finals, the World Cup of Interscholastic Surfing, for its production like on state and national champions in recent years.
“At the Australian junior titles last year Eliza Richardson went back to back in the under 14 girls with Willem Watson finishing third in the boys. Our team also finished fourth in the Mark Richards Shield at the same event.
“In addition, we’ve had huge success in bodyboarding and longboarding at national and state level, with Jai Taylor winning an Australian bodyboard title last year and hoping to contest the world titles later this year. In longboarding Mia Waite and Lennix Currie have also won national titles.”
The Iolani Finals, staged by the prestigious and historic (founded 1863) Iolani School on Oahu, will be held at the world class South Shore surf break of Ala Moana for 9 to 14 July. The event will pit surfers from 12 school teams invited from around the world against each other in shortboarding and longboarding.
What an opportunity this is for young surfers to not only compete against the best of their peers, but to do so in the home of surf culture, the birthplace of Duke Kahanamoku and the surfing backyard of so many Hawaiian champions, from the Aikau brothers to the Hos and beyond.
If you’re interested in hearing more about the Iolani Finals and Sunshine Beach State High’s presence in them, contact Kurt Barrow at kbarr118@eq.edu.au
Aggie goes off
It was the 25th edition of the Agnes Water Longboard Classic last week and Huey the god of surf gifted it with almost six straight days of solid, contestable surf on the point, which at fickle Agnes is a rare treat which not even the squally weather could dampen. I say almost six days because finals Sunday got a bit dodgy on the high tide, but we codgers managed to tough it out, your columnist finishing second in the ROF (really old farts) division to the legendary Danny Bond, who at 78 also happened to be the oldest surfer in the Classic.
Noosa was well represented with a big team from the Mal Club and president Glen Gower competing in just about every division and featuring in the finals of all of them. Young guns Ryder Worthington (winner of the juniors) and Will De King also represented in the logger and old mal, with Albie Curtis and Mark Kimmerly in the older divisions, Peppie Simpson in the senior women’s, Fenna De King continuing her great form at Noosa in the logger pro, and former Noosan Trent Dickey, a longtime resident of Yepoon and former open men’s champion, taking out a second in the logger pro.
The Aggie Classic is a bit rough around the edges – which I quite like because it reminds me of my first visit in 1978 when you could rent a fisho shack on the beach for a buck a night and Mrs Jeffrey’s peacocks still strode around on the grass taking no notice of the few lonely surfers sitting on the point waiting for a set – but Paul White and his team keep smiling as tents blow down around them and the PA has an epic fail. All good, it’s only surfing after all.
Congrats Kelly and Kalani
GOAT Kelly Slater has been having a bit of a rough time in the media of late, mainly for his injury no show in Portugal while managing to tackle big, beautiful Kirra a couple of days later seemingly unhindered. If he surfs at Bells this week, he’ll be looking for a vintage performance to save him from the midseason cut at the conclusion of the two-event Australian leg, so the pressure is on and it might be time to cut the champ some slack.
Life of Brine offers Kelly and his longtime sweetheart Kalani Miller sincere congratulations on their happy news revealed on social media last week – they are having a baby! Well done, guys.
