Australia’s National Junior Surfing Team – The Irukandjis – have completed a historic three-peat, claiming overall team gold at the 2026 ISA World Junior Surfing Championships in El Salvador.
Australia secures its third consecutive ISA World Junior Team Title, following team gold in 2024 and 2025, further cementing the Irukandjis as the winningest national team in ISA World Junior history with a historic 10th ISA Junior Team Title!
The team’s championship victory was backed by an unmatched individual medal haul, with Leihani Zoric (Broken Head, NSW), Locana Cullen (Newport, NSW) and Lucy Darragh (Gerringong, NSW) all claiming individual World Championship gold – taking home gold in 3-out-4 possible divisions at the games.
Ben Zanatta (Dee Why, NSW) also finished with a silver medal, while Ocean Lancaster (Merewether, NSW) and Rio Luther Barr (Bellingen, NSW) added bronze medals to Australia’s tally.
Across more than a week of competition at La Bocana and El Sunzal, the 12-strong Australian team went head-to-head with the world’s best junior surfers before ultimately securing another World Team Championship title and adding three new names to Australia’s list of ISA World Junior Champions.
LEIHANI ZORIC WINS U18 WORLD TITLE AT JUST 13 YEARS OLD
At just 13 years of age, Leihani Zoric (Broken Head, NSW) has been crowned an ISA World Junior Champion, winning the U18 women’s division while competing three age divisions above her own.
Zoric’s result is one of the standout performances of the entire Australian campaign, taking on surfers several years her senior to claim the U18 World Championship title.
The young North Coast surfer earned her place on the Irukandjis team following a breakout year that included winning the 2026 Indigenous Surfing Titles Open Women’s division and reaching the final of Stab High Ladybirds specialty air event.
Her U18 World Championship adds another remarkable achievement to a rapidly developing career and makes Zoric one of three Australian athletes to claim individual gold in El Salvador.
At 13, Zoric is also one of the youngest athletes on the Australian team and will return home from El Salvador not only as a World Champion, but as one of the biggest stories of the 2026 ISA World Junior Championships.
LOCANA CULLEN WINS WORLD TITLE
Locana Cullen (Newport, NSW) has claimed World Championship gold in the U16 men’s division, adding another major achievement to an already impressive junior record.
Cullen arrived in El Salvador as a three-time Stab High Junior champion and after finishing second in the Open Men’s division at the 2026 Stab High specialty air event.
The ISA World Junior title now adds an international championship to his growing list of achievements and marks Cullen as one of Australia’s newest junior World Champions.
LUCY DARRAGH WINS WORLD TITLE
Lucy Darragh (Gerringong, NSW) has gone one better than her 2025 result, claiming U16 women’s gold and becoming an ISA World Junior Champion.
Darragh returned to the Irukandjis in 2026 after winning bronze at last year’s World Junior Championships and finishing as the 2025 U16 Australian Junior Series Champion.
After standing on the podium in Peru last year, Darragh has now moved to the top step in El Salvador, delivering one of the standout results of the Australian campaign.
ZANATTA TAKES SILVER, LANCASTER & LUTHER-BARR ADD BRONZE
Ben Zanatta (Dee Why, NSW), Ocean Lancaster (Merewether, NSW) & Rio Luther Barr (Bellingen, NSW) finished on the podium in the U18 & U16 men’s division, with Zanatta claiming silver and Lancaster & Luther Bar taking bronze.
Zanatta produced a strong run through the division to reach the final, adding an ISA World Junior medal to his resume after being selected for the Irukandjis following his 2025 U18 Australian Junior Championship.
For Lancaster, the bronze adds another medal to an already impressive ISA World Junior record. The 2025 U16 World Junior Champion returned to El Salvador as the defending U16 World Champion, stepping up to the U18 division this year.
Luther Barr capped a strong rookie ISA campaign with bronze in the U16 men’s division, adding another individual medal to Australia’s impressive tally.
The result marks a standout ISA World Junior campaign for Barr and contributes to the Irukandjis’ haul of three World Champions, one silver medallist and two bronze medallists in El Salvador.
THE IRUKANDJIS COMPLETE THE 3-‘PETE’
The Australian team entered El Salvador with a clear objective: to defend the World Team Championship title and become the first Australian Irukandjis squad to claim three consecutive team gold medals.
After team victories in 2024 and 2025, the 2026 team arrived under the weight of a growing legacy. Led by Head Coach Pete Duncan alongside coach Jade Wheatley, who has now guided the team to all three titles, the Irukandjis delivered once again to complete the 3-‘Pete’!
The result is also a reflection of the huge effort behind the team, from the coaching and performance staff to team management and the wider Surfing Australia support crew. From preparation at the High Performance Centre through to the final day in El Salvador, the 12 athletes were supported by a team working behind the scenes to ensure they were ready to perform.
For the 12 athletes selected to represent Australia, the result caps a memorable campaign and adds another chapter the most successful team in international junior surfing!
Leihani Zoric (NSW): U18 World Champion (at just 13 years old)
Locana Cullen (NSW): U16 World Champion
Lucy Darragh (NSW): U16 World Champion
Ben Zanatta (NSW): U18 Silver
Ocean Lancaster (NSW): U18 Bronze
Rio Luther Barr (NSW: U16 Bronze
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For more information, visit the ISA event website
ISA U16 Boys Gold Medalist, Locana Cullen (NSW) Credits: ISA
ISA U18 Women’s Gold Medalist, Leihani Zoric (NSW). Credits: ISA
ISA U16 Women’s Gold Medalist, Lucy Darragh (NSW). Credits: ISA
ISA U18 Men’s Bronze Medalist, Ben Zanatta (NSW). Credits: ISA
ISA U16 Boys Bronze Medalist, Rio Luther Barr (NSW). Credits: ISA
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