Girl power on waves

BOUND FOR THE FINAL: Gisborne surfer Dayna Story on her way to a place in the final of the under-18 girls’ division of the National Scholastic Surfing Championships at Makorori Beach. Picture by Paul Rickard

GISBORNE’S under-18 and u14 girls continued to dominate their opposition in the semifinals of the National Scholastic Surfing Championships today.

Dayna Story and Abby Falwasser-Logan made the most of the near-perfect conditions during their heat at Makorori this morning.

They will surf against each other for a third time in this contest during the u18 girls’ final tomorrow.

They are not the only Gisborne girls pitted against each other.

Kai Woolf, Saffi Vette and Stella Smith progressed through their semifinal heats yesterday and will surf together in the u14 final along with Gabrielle Paul from Piha.

Woolf was the standout performer with the highest score of 13.83. This included a 9.1-point ride in the early stages of the heat.

“That is a phenomenal achievement for her,” coach Andy Vette said.

“She paddled out and right on the buzzer a near-perfect wave came through. That score set her up for the rest of the heat.”

Thomas Dixon-Smith also caught a good wave early on in his u16 Round 2 heat yesterday.

He scored an 8.5 and went on to win with a 12.778 two-wave total, earning him a place in the quarterfinals.

Dixon-Smith was to surf against fellow team member Riaki Ruru, who came second in his heat, and two others at 11.30am.

During the team talk this morning, Vette hammered home the importance of wave selection for the young surfers.

“It is about being focused and dominating the peak so when the sets do come through you are in the right spot,” he said.

“The team talk is about staying positive and being supportive. It will be hard for us to get into the top three but some of the surfers are looking to beat their personal best.”

Gisborne were sitting sixth on the points table last night. The team from Christchurch led the pack, followed by Auckland and defending champions Bay of Plenty.

“It is great to see Christchurch doing well,” Vette said.

“They do not have the best waves down there but do have a really strong club that is getting behind the development of their groms.”