Australian Indigenous Surfing Titles Wrap Up with Champions Crowned in Pumping Conditions

The Australian Indigenous Surfing Titles Presented by Rip Curl kicked off last Friday with a smoking ceremony before surfers hit the waves at the iconic Bells Beach/Djarrk.

By Saturday afternoon, the swell was a solid six foot and building for the finals. Landen Smales (Noosa Heads, QLD) caught multiple spectacular waves in his heats to take out both the Open Men Longboard and Junior Boys divisions. Summer Simon (Rainbow Bay, QLD) was ripping in the Open Women with a 7.50 single-wave score helping her secure the win.

Simon said: “It felt so surreal, Bells is one of my favourite places to surf so to take out the Indigenous Title this year is really special to me. I was super stoked to get Bells pumping and catch heaps of good waves. We were cheering each other on out there and all the girls were shredding, which makes it that bit harder to win.”

According to Surfing Victoria the level of surfing was at an all time high with many excellent rides posted, the majority of those came from the Masters Mens.

Lee Winkler (Coffs Harbour, NSW) scored the event’s first perfect 10-point ride. He followed it up with an 8.07 score, to win the division.

Winkler said: “I surfed three heats in a row so everything was kind of a blur but it felt amazing surfing those big, fast canvases. It was just about sharing waves with really good humans and enjoying the purity of surfing these waves at this location.”

Smales, who later claimed his third division win in Open Men, said: “It’s been a big couple of days with Bells putting on a show for everyone. I’m very proud to be Indigenous and be able to come down to this comp and surf with everyone.”

Other division winners included Jasmine McCorquodale (Bateau Bay, NSW – Women Longboard), Ocea Curtis (Lennox Heads, NSW – Junior Girls) and Glenn Curtis (Lennox Heads, NSW – Over 50 Men).

Final Results:

Open Women
1st – Summer Simon (Rainbow Bay, QLD) 15.83
2nd – Kauri Heuston-Connor (Reedy Creek, QLD) 11.53
3rd – Ocea Curtis (Lennox Head, NSW) 8.00
4th – Leihani Zoric (Broken Head, NSW) 0.00

Open Men
1st – Landen Smales (Noosa Heads, QLD) 13.80
2nd – Jordie Campbell (Torquay, VIC) 13.60
3rd – Finn Hill (Avoca Beach, NSW) 13.07
4th – Rohnin Henry Micale (Bellambi, NSW) 10.90

Masters Men
1st – Lee Winkler (Coffs Harbour, NSW) 18.07
2nd – Dylan Robertson (Bulli, NSW) 16.50
3rd – Robbie Page (Kempsey, NSW) 14.10
4th – Anthony Hume (Torquay, VIC) 5.67

Womens Longboard
1st – Jasmine McCorquodale (Bateau Bay, NSW) 15.00
2nd – Mali Legge (NSW) 8.10
3rd – Jessi Muir (Ocean Grove, VIC) 2.00
4th – Cassandra Mckechnie (Tweed Heads, NSW) 0.00

Mens Longboard
1st – Landen Smales (Noosa Heads, QLD) 16.33
2nd – Kaiden Smales (Noosa Heads, QLD) 12.17
3rd – Rhys Collins (Red Hill, VIC) 10.83
4th – Robbie Page (Kempsey, NSW) 10.13

Junior Girls
1st – Ocea Curtis (Lennox Heads, NSW) 13.34
2nd – Leihani Zoric (Broken Head, NSW) 12.70
3rd –  Bohdi Simon (Rainbow Bay, QLD) 9.50
4th – Kauri Heuston-Connor (Reedy Creek, QLD) 8.6

Junior Boys
1st – Landen Smales (Noosa Heads, QLD) 19.47
2nd – Hunter Winkler (Coffs Harbour, NSW) 12.24
3rd – Kyroan ODonnell (Tewantin, QLD) 5.17
4th – Tyler Duell (Phillip Island, VIC) 0.00

Over 50 Men
1st – Glenn Curtis (Lennox Heads, NSW) 15.84
2nd – Robbie Page (Kempsey, NSW) 12.66
3rd – Jay Mckenzie (Cronulla, NSW) 10.34
4th – Steffan Krasna (Melbourne, VIC) 8.17