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.
The journey of Billy Stairmand in 2021 is astounding. From fundraising just to get to the Australian qualification series, to the highs and lows of the inaugural surfing event at the Olympics to a frantic run through the Challenger Series – and all while never knowing when, or if, he......
Te Kehu Kehu Mokoia Ngawhika Butler is a man who needs little introduction. He’s been touted for years as New Zealand’s “Māori Prince” – our next hope of having a competitor on the World Championship Tour. He’s an explosive surfer with a good team around him and a work ethic......
Tao Mouldey rips. There’s simply no other way to put it. His Instagram profile is filled with mini edits of the Mount Maunganui grom throwing buckets of spray much higher than they should be for someone his age. A solid reflection of this is the fact that he won both......
Rewa Morrison and Jack Tyro have taken out the premier Under 18 divisions at the opening round of the 2022 South Island Grom Series held in Dunedin at the weekend. The event is a welcome back to competition for the younger surfers after Covid scuttled both the Scholastics Surfing Championships......
Raglan’s Billy Stairmand has bounced back from a string of shock first round exits throughout the Challenger Series to surf his way comfortably into the Round of 32 at Haleiwa, Hawaii. It’s the final curtain of the 2021 WSL Challenger Series and the draw is loaded. That makes Billy’s journey......
Alexis Owen and Poppy Entwisle open their summer competitive surfing campaigns with emphatic wins at the South Island Primary School Champs, held at North Wai, New Brighton, at the weekend. The warm coast of New Brighton delivered waves in the 1-2 foot range for the contest with a mixture of......
We’ve teamed up with GoPro and Barton Lynch’s BL Blast Off and have a brand new GoPro HERO10 to giveaway to a New Zealand surfer. We’re calling for all aspiring young filmmakers and grommets out there to work together and load up a small (up to 60-second) edit to the......
Acclaimed filmmaker Morgan Maassen brings us his latest film, Goddesses, which explores the lives of three young Tahitian girls: Vahine, Heimiti and Kohai Fierro. Set in their home against a dramatic backdrop of Tahiti’s jungle, mountains and reefbreaks, this film is as mesmerizing as it is soulful. “My obsession with......
There’s something very exciting happening at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games venue of Teahupo’o in Tahiti. The local surfers are stepping up to the plate in a big way, led by a mixture of the older guard and the new rising stars in the Tahitian lineup. In this film teenage......
Luke Griffin sits down to discuss growing up in the Mount, working with his older brother and shaper Jordan Griffin, and experiencing a Dunedin winter. Luke is one of those surfers who is unfairly gifted. He has equal parts raw talent and great style on top of a board. I......