Surfing: Brazilians show their class despite heavy West Coast swell

Maxime Huscenot of France found plenty of action in the raging seas at Piha yesterday. Photo / Brett Phibbs

The rugged West Coast surf conditions wreaked havoc on day two of at the ISA junior world championships in Piha, with the wild weather forcing the cancellation of some events.

Only the under 18 boys' competitors took to the surf yesterday, battling large seas and strong winds in qualifying round two.

With gusting winds and big swells lashing the main contest site, competition organisers opted to can the opening round heats in the girls competition, while the under 16 boys second round of qualifying was also abandoned. And organisers are again unlikely to get through a full day's surfing programme today, with even bigger waves and stronger winds forecast.

Contest director Marcos Bukao said the weather disruptions will put them under pressure to get through all the heats later next week.

"The problem is tomorrow could be worse, the swells could be a little bit bigger and the waves will be choppier," said Bukao. "I don't think the girls will get out there tomorrow, we will keep them dry for another day. But we will try to have at least two rounds - one for the qualifying rounds we did not do today and the repechage from today."

For all the difficulties the conditions created, there were still some impressive scores recorded on the second day of the competition.

Brazil's Gabriel Medina was the stand-out performer, netting the highest two-wave combined heat total of 14.67 (out of a possible 20) in the third heat of the day. The Brazilian contingent have looked strong so far in the championships, with Medina's compatriot Ian Gouveia also dominating his heat with a score of 12.67. Others to stand out in the second round of qualifying were Tahiti's McComb Tamaroa (13.17) who easily won his heat, while Evan Geiselman of the US (12.17) also looked in good form.

Also to advance through to the third round is New Zealand's Alex Dive who finished second in his heat behind Medina. Dive produced a couple of solid runs to net 11.00.

The other Kiwi in action yesterday was Gisborne's Johnny Hicks, who struggled in the challenging conditions, and at one point found himself sharing the waves with a shark.

"I was paddling for about 15 minutes at the start of the heat without catching a wave, and just before I got my first wave I saw a massive shark about five metres away from me. It was pretty freaky," he said. "I think the other boys were pretty scared as well."

* * *

WHITE OUT IN THE GREEN ROOM

The rugged West Coast surf conditions proved too much for some international competitors on day two of the ISA junior world surf championships at Piha yesterday. With wild weather lashing the main contest site, it is believed several team managers expressed reservations about sending the youngsters out into the surf.

Ultimately, competition organisers opted to can the opening round of the girls' competition and the under-16 boys' second round of qualifying was abandoned.

Only the under-18 boys' competitors took to the waves yesterday in round two of qualifying. But the rugged seas were still too much for some of the senior competitors, with one Indonesian surfer withdrawing from his heat because of the conditions. It was not so much the size of the waves that made the going tough, but the movement of the water, likened to being in a washing machine. The competition continues today, with even bigger swells and stronger winds predicted.