Australia has a new World Junior Champion with Sierra Kerr taking out the title in San Diego, California on 13 January, 2024.
The win secures Kerr’s spot on the 2024 Challenger Series, giving her the option to skip this current Qualifying Series and focus her sights firmly on CT qualification.
The women’s final was a showdown between Kerr and Zoe Benedetto (USA). Kerr put on a dominant performance, scoring a near-perfect 9.00 (out of a possible 10) and earning a 16.83 combined score as she continues to push the boundaries of progressive surfing.
“That was the craziest heat,” Kerr said in a post-heat interview.
“It’s amazing to win. I feel like I haven’t been surfing that good this contest. I went in the final just going to leave nothing on the table. I felt like I actually surfed good, so I was frothing. I wasn’t even expecting to qualify for the Challenger Series. I forgot that was a thing. That’s insane. Thank you to everyone who came and watched, and everyone that’s watching.”
The 16-year-old, who divides her time between Australia and the US, grew up surfing the Gold Coast, and when not away competing, trains at the Surfing Australia High Performance Centre in Casuarina in northern NSW as part of Surfing Australia’s High Performance Program.
Sierra has been a part of ‘Limitless’, an initiative of the program that gives rising talent a platform to progress their level of surfing and push the boundaries of what’s possible in the water. As part of this initiative, Sierra last year travelled to Keramas and the Mentawai Islands in Indonesia, with her dad Josh Kerr, an aerial specialist, as one of the coaches.
Watch Sierra in Limitless:
Participation
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