Quiksilver Riders Blog

Beyrick de Vries helping out one of the I-Care kids in the water.

Durban – An inspiring addition to the Quiksilver Pro Junior presented by Durban and Resolution is the Quiksilver Surf Day. This is a day at the beach where Quiksilver and Durban bring together surfers from various backgrounds through their love of surfing, and have them surf and interact with professional surfers and top juniors in attendance for the Quiksilver Pro Junior. Local professional surfers like Daniel Redman, Simon Nicholson, Kyle Lane and Sarah Baum, along with the top junior surfers like Brendon Gibbens, Beyrick de Vries and Slade Prestwich will be there to surf with the kids, give advice, and help them with their surfing. The Quiksilver Surf Day will take place on Thursday 1 April, before the start of the Quiksilver Pro Junior and the Quiksilver King Of The Groms, which begin on Friday 2 April

Alan Wallace who runs I-Care for street kids, will have 8 kids at the surf day, and is happy at the prospect. “At I-Care we look after a number of homeless street kids, and it is a really great thing to be able to offer these kids a day at the beach,” commented Alan. “Quiksilver really do a good job and spoil these kids. Instead of being there to just make up the numbers, the day really gives them a sense of meaning and makes them feel special for who they are.”

There will also be 12 surfers from the Umthombo organisation (www.umthombo.org) at the Surf Day. Umthombo also runs a successful organisation for the reformation and rehabilitation of South African street children. Cyril Mquadi, a long time member of the professional surf scene, has actively been involved and is the driving force in making surfing and ocean awareness a regular activity for the Umthombo kids. Some of the kids have really taken to surfing and have shown great potential for the future.

Finally there will be 10 surfers from Umzumbe Surf Club on the South Coast at the day’s event. These guys also come from disadvantaged backgrounds but know their way around the lineup, having spent countless hours in the water and out of trouble at Umzumbe. These surfers might be slightly more proficient in amongst the waves, but they are still without many basics, as well as luxuries, that normal surfers take for granted.

Every surfer invited to attend the day’s events will receive a Quiksilver T-shirt, and there will be lunch and cold drinks served for all. Surfboards and all the necessary equipment for the day will be supplied by Quiksilver for all those children who don’t have their own surfing equipment. Proceedings will get underway at 10:30am on Thursday the 1st of April

The Quiksilver Surf Day will also be a day for Durban media and other assembled media to see how effectively these kids have taken to the water, and how much of a role surfing and the sea has played in their rehabilitation. If you would like to attend this fun day on the beach please apply for media accreditation through:

Olivia Jones
Olivia Jones Communications
cell: 082 537 8840
office landline: 031 303 9341
email: oj@oliviajones.co.za
alternate email: oliviajones@webmail.co.za

Piha Beach, New Zealand – In an exciting final day of the Quiksilver ISA World Junior Championships, Team South Africa place a solid fourth in the team event, as well as scoring final places in two divisions in the individuals event. Team Australia won the Championships from Hawaii in second, and the USA in the third, with South Africa right behind them in fourth.

In the U18 girl’s division Durban surfer and Roxy team rider Sarah Baum fought a tough battle, and despite some strong rides and her typical goofy-foot flair, ended up in third place. Baum had been finding form all week in the beachbreak conditions of the venue, but

South African Team Captain Beyrick De Vries

fell short of a big result in the final heat.

Another Durban surfer and Quiksilver rider Beyrick De Vries also had a great week, surfing dynamically and turning heads in all of his heats. Beyrick looked like he was headed for victory in the U18 boy’s division, and had many people calling him as the man to beat. Although De Vries surfed an excellent final, he came up against a crew of determined international surfers who were going crazy in the three-foot right hand bowls, and found himself in fourth place. Team captain De Vries surfed a good contest and captained his team well, and his place in the final was a fine testament to a job well done.

The U18 division title was won by Brazilian sensation Gabriel Medina with a final heat score of 19.90 points out of a possible 20 from Jordin Watson (Aus), Tamaroa McComb (Tah) and Beyrick de Vries (ZAF). In the U16 division Australian Matt Banting came out on top while Aussie team mate Tyler Wright fended off a strong field to take the U18 Girls title.

In more good news Quiksilver surfer Jarred Veldhuis from Kommetjie was awarded a 2010 ISA Individual Scholarship, along with fellow South African team member Papi Makanyane.

Quiksilver South Africa’s Marketing Manager Dane Patterson was pleased with the results. “We are very happy with Beyrick, Sarah and Jarred’s achievements,” said Dane. “They flew the SA flag high. The event was great and really showcased the best junior surfers in the world, Beyrick was on fire and really proved that he’s one of the best junior surfers in the world at the moment. He will be a forced to be reckoned with in the years to come!”

The Olympic style ISA Aloha Cup, which pits national teams against each other, was also won by Team Australia. France finished in second, with South Africa in third place. All results and final points can be found on the ISA event website: www.isaworldjuniors.com

For this event the South African team was funded by the National Lottery Distribution Trust Fund (NLDTF), and Quiksilver South Africa were the official South African team clothing sponsor. Power Balance and Skullcandy also gave their support to the team.

Surfing South Africa is the organisation recognised by the South African Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee, (SASCOC) Sport and Recreation South Africa (SRSA) and the International Surfing Association (ISA) as the governing body for the sport in South Africa.

yoooooo.

So after a week of flat waves in Narrabeen, Sydney, some windswell has finally arrived, not huge but surfable and contestable. So far the Zaffa crew are 50% through, unfortunately Kyle lane and Casey ” Cdog” Grant, battled to find waves in their heats and are in round two.

I drew the brazilian phenom, Gabrielle Madina who most of you have seen in the King of the groms final in france this year where he scored two perfect tens to win the final, however he battled to find a good wave and i managed to post a 6.67 and a low four to take the win, skip round two secure my self a spot in round three. The other south african was Klee Skei Strachan who managed to pull off a last minute miracle and jump to first, so he will find himself in round three too.

Chad du toit is yet to surf his round one heat. i will keep you guys updated as to how he does tomorrow.

Unfortunately both the girls, Sarah Baum and Bianca Buitandag were not able to find the requirements in order to progress straight into round 3 but you can bet your bottom dollar that all the south africans in round 2 will give it horns and more than likely find a spot in round three!

cheers for now
beyrick