Surf Athletes
We all like to think we are surfers who “could have” made it. These surf athletes actually are making it. From underground heroes to rising groms – this is where we lay bare the best talent in the country.
We’re on the eve of the Paris 2024 Olympics with Billy Stairmand and Saffi Vette on their way to Tahiti’s infamous Teahupo’o – the reef break at the end of the road. They’re our Kiwi hopes in a contest that will undoubtedly grab the world’s attention. Here’s what you need......
Thirty years ago, ISA president Fernando Aguerre dreamed that surfing might one day be included in the Olympic Games. No one could have predicted how challenging that pursuit would be. The Impossible Wave follows Fernando Aguerre’s improbable mission to push surfing into the Olympic spotlight. After 27 years and 12,000 hours......
Billy Stairmand and Kehu Butler put on a masterclass in big, stormy, unruly Manu Bay as a new guard rises to nip at their heels at the Backdoor King and Queen of the Point. Backdoor’s King and Queen of the Point surf competition attracts most of the best surfers in......
Jack Tyro is impossible to miss. At just 17 years of age, he has established himself as one of New Zealand’s most accomplished young surfers, and is already taking on the world. And the most exciting part? He’s only just getting started. The last time we spoke with Jack Tyro,......
This morning, the World Surf League announced that Cloudbreak, Fiji, will host the 2025 WSL Final – a winner-takes-all finale that will crown the men’s and women’s World Champions and conclude the 2025 Championship Tour season. Cloudbreak, a legendary left about 2.5 kilometers off the coast of Tavarua, is widely......
Budding filmmaker Fernando Jara teams up with Jack Tyro, one of New Zealand’s best young surfers in his short film Gone Wild. Filmed in and around Jack’s home breaks near Christchurch, the film’s ethereal visuals and immaculate sound design, paired with his mastery of the surf – on both shortboard......
At 15, Maya Mateja became one of the youngest surfers to win the Open Women’s title when she won the 2024 New Zealand Surfing Championships. We catch up with the Raglan-based phenom to find out how she did it and why she won’t be surfing for Team New Zealand. With......
Finals Day for the Open Men and Women goes down to the wire at the 2024 New Zealand Surfing Champs. No one in the packed crowd on the steps of St Clair Beach could have predicted the Open Men’s Final would boil down to a tie break between defending Champion......
Hot on the heels of his 2024 New Zealand Surfing Championship we catch up with Taranaki’s Daniel Farr to find out how it feels to win his second Open title … and the moment he knew he had won it. Daniel Farr wasn’t on the radar for the 2024 National......
Finals Day for the Under 18s, 16s and 14s at the 2024 New Zealand Surfing Champs reveals an historic moment. This is the sharp end of the contest for the juniors, made even more incisive by the fact a win here gives you automatic entry into the New Zealand surfing......