Vitor Bauermann has claimed back-to-back national Under-16 surfing titles, earning selection in the New Zealand team for this year's ISA World Junior Surfing Championship.
Vitor Bauermann has claimed back-to-back national Under-16 surfing titles, earning selection in the New Zealand team for this year's ISA World Junior Surfing Championship.
Mount Maunganui surfer Vitor Bauermann floated in the chop off Gisborne beach with no idea he had just become a two-time national Under-16 boys champion.
It was “really windy”, drowning out the loudspeakers at the Surfing New Zealand nationals and leaving competitors blind to the scores as the lastseconds of the final drained away.
The competitors were “all kind of stressing”, Bauermann said.
Only when the 15-year-old began paddling toward shore did the answer arrive – his mates’ arms in the air, cheering him up the beach.
“I think I won,” Bauermann thought at the sight of his supporters.
The event was New Zealand’s premier domestic surfing championship, drawing the country’s top junior and senior surfers to Gisborne from January 11 to 17.
There were almost 400 entries across 28 divisions, and it marked the first of eight national events around New Zealand.
The Mount teen had defended his Under-16 crown, claiming back-to-back national titles after winning for the first time in Taranaki last year.
The new victory earned Bauermann automatic selection to the New Zealand team for the 2026 International Surfing Association World Junior Surfing Championship in El Salvador.
“It was just surreal ... I was doing it all over again”.
Bauermann was “so stoked”.
He opened the competition final with two strong waves before the ocean went quiet, then managed a late ride to edge ahead on points.
The win capped a demanding week in which Bauermann competed in the Under-16 and Open men’s divisions, reaching the Open quarter-finals before turning his focus to his age group.
Bauermann spent much of the past year travelling between Mount Maunganui and Coolangatta, Australia, where he trained with private coach Marcos Freitas, from Salt Performance Training.
Surfing “pretty much every day”, he went into the nationals feeling “really confident”, he said.
Vitor Bauermann has claimed back-to-back national U16 surfing titles, earning selection in the New Zealand team for this year’s ISA World Junior Surfing Championship. Photo / Supplied
The sport had been part of Bauermann’s life for “as long as I can remember”, starting when he was about 4, and he was now doing school online so he could chase competitions and swells.
In December, Bauermann represented New Zealand at the ISA World Junior Surfing Championship in Peru, finishing 13th in the Under-16 division.
Bauermann said he “can’t wait” to represent New Zealand internationally again, continuing the “good vibes” the team had in Peru, and thanked his supporters.
“I just love the ocean ... it clears my head ... I just feel really free”.
Surfing alongside his mates was his favourite.
Other Bay of Plenty surfers also featured strongly at the national championships in Gisborne.
Mount Maunganui’s Ariana Walker and Piha’s Leia Millar finished tied for fourth in the Open women’s division, with Walker ranked ahead after posting the highest single wave score of 7.40.
In the girls’ Under-16 division, Lola Groube claimed her first national title, and the Mount’s Jaxon Willows shared the Peter Byers Most Outstanding Performance Award after winning double titles in the longboard divisions alongside Taranaki surfer Izaro Williamson Sasia.
Annabel Reid is a multimedia journalist for the Bay of Plenty Times and Rotorua Daily Post, based in Rotorua. Originally from Hawke’s Bay, she has a Bachelor of Communications from the University of Canterbury.
