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.
Ava’s road to her second national title was a convoluted one … she nearly didn’t get there … but the likeable, laidback surfer from Christchurch soon found her feet in Stent Road’s lefts and rights to take the top gong. In 2020 Ava Henderson won her first Open Women’s title......
George Roberts’ move to Australia to give the World Qualifying Series a crack in 2024 reveals just how brutal they can be, but also how those first round knockouts fuel his drive. Surfing competitively in New Zealand is a pathway fraught with potholes. While the junior ranks are relatively well-catered......
It’s an average Tuesday in Dunedin, New Zealand. The after school rush is in full force as I navigate traffic on the way to the St Kilda Surf Lifesaving HQ. The sky is blue and the air is almost warm – remarkably mild for a winter’s day in Dunedin. The......
So you want to get sponsored? We ask a handful of New Zealand’s leading team managers what you need to do and the steps you should take. Firstly, sponsorship has never been in a worse state in New Zealand (you can read our story on the surf industry state of......
If it feels like the surf industry has abandoned New Zealand then you’re kind of right. We look into the state of play of the industry and where the rubber meets the road here In New Zealand. I first started writing and photographing surf around 1993 – guys like Munga......
A building swell at the Paris 2024 Olympics saw Billy Stairmand and Saffi Vette progress to Round 2 in Tahiti today. Both surfers made New Zealand proud, grasping opportunities in their respective opening heats at Tahiti’s infamous Teahupo’o. Over 15,000 kilometers from the host city, Olympic Surfing debuted for Paris......
On the eve of the 2024 Paris Olympic Games we turn to our trusty readers to see who you believe will win the coveted Olympic Gold medal at Chopes. Take our polls right here – we have one poll for the women and one for the men. The forecast is......
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......