BAR BEACH, NEWCASTLE (Saturday 3 October 2020): The Rip Curl GromSearch series heated up ahead of tomorrow’s finals with a handful of exciting exchanges in two-foot surf at Bar Beach.
Kash Brown (Cronulla), Ben Zanatta Creagh (Dee Why), and Max Mcgillivray (Evans Head) all made their presence felt in the 12 Boys division. All three surfers – who have recently notched up solid results in NSW title events – posted two-wave heat totals in excess of 15.00 to claim victories in the round two heats and earn their spot into the finals day of competition.
Under-12 Girls top-seeds Ocea Curtis (Lennox Head), Quincy Symonds (Tweed Heads) and Ruby Trew (Manly) all showed why they donned the top seed red rashies all posting giant two-wave totals in excess of 15.00 to claim round two heat wins and earn themselves spots into the semi-finals.
Rosie Smart (Sawtell) and Cedar Leigh-Jones (Avalon) put on a clinic over the course of the 16 Girls semis posting 15.93 and 17.50 heat totals respectively. Both girls executed an array of critical snaps and carves to post the aforementioned scores and cement themselves a spot into the final.
Koda Killorn (Maroubra), Lennix Smith (Barrack Heights), Winter Vincent (Manly) and Taj Simon (Port Kembla) continued their rampage through the 16 Boys, all posting impressive scores. All surfers will face off with their respective semi-finalists tomorrow on finals day.
The main base for the National Final of the Rip Curl GromSearch is Merewether with backup locations of Bar Beach, Dixon Park and Newcastle Beach.
All competitors are advised to ring the event hotline (0458 247 212) by 6.45am on the days of competition to confirm location and running order.
In an uncertain year, organisers have deemed the easiest way for families to plan ahead is to allow entry for each event to be available for state residents only. This alleviates the uncertain issues regarding interstate travel, whilst still providing an opportunity for participants to surf against others from their state.
Each event will be run in conjunction with the state surfing associations and adhere to all appropriate health and safety regulations. In accordance with Victorian regulations, the Victorian event has been moved to November 14-15 at Jan Juc Beach, better aligning with regional restrictions to allow surfers to attend.
The 2020 series will culminate with a GromSearch National final at URBNSURF Melbourne in March 2021. Finalists will be determined from the top-ranked surfers out of each of the three events in the series (in their respective divisions). GromSearch organisers will be working with surfing associations from states where events cannot be held, to try and incorporate surfers from each of those states.
More information on individual events, entry dates and procedure, allocations for National Final and any other updates to follow.
UPDATED 2020 Rip Curl GromSearch Series dates:
*all dates and locations to be confirmed, pending Covid-19 restrictions and regulations.
Event 1 – Newcastle, NSW – Oct 1-4, 2020
NEW DATE Event 2 – Jan Juc, VIC – Nov 14-15, 2020.
EVENT 3 – Coolum, Qld – Dec 14-16, 2020
National Final – URBNSURF, Vic. March, 2021
Divisions:
16 and Under Girls, 14 and Under Girls, 12 and Under Girls
16 and Under Boys, 14 and Under Boys, 12 and Under Boys.
The GromSearch series provides the opportunity for groms to surf with their friends whilst developing their competitive skills. As participants progress through to the finals they gain valuable experience competing against elite level talent.
The impressive list of previous GromSearch competitors that are currently on the WSL world tour is testament to the quality of the series.
Current WSL World Tour athletes that were GromSearch finalists include:
Tyler Wright*, Steph Gilmore*, Carissa Moore*, Sally Fitzgibbons, Malia Manuel, Nikki Van Dijk, Tatiana Weston-Webb, Bronte McCaulay, Caroline Marks, Macy Callaghan, Brisa Hennessy, Isabella Nichols & Bethany Hamilton. (*Note: GromSearch competitors have won the last 13 WSL Women’s World Titles).
Current Men’s WSL World Tour athletes that were GromSearch finalists include:
Gabriel Medina*, Owen Wright, Italo Ferreira*, Jordy Smith*, Kolohe Andino*, Filipe Toledo*, Kanoa Igarashi*, Wade Carmichael, Ryan Callinan, Leonardo Fioravanti, Connor O’Leary, Seth Moniz, Griffin Colapinto & Morgan Cibilic.
(*Note: the top 6 surfers of the final 2019 WSL World Tour rankings are all former GromSearch finalists).
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