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.
With a forecast about as diabolical as you can get for a Dunedin summer the Health 2000 2020 Nationals had it all: early exits, upsets, elation and the emergence of two new champions. Here are our 10 best moments from it all. The Gathering of the Tribe There are few......
Piha surfer Elliot Paerata-Reid has claimed the 2020 National Open Surfing Title after a thrilling final battle with seven-time and defending champion, Billy Stairmand. In the women’s, 14-year-old Ava Henderson rose to the top with a polished performance to take her first open title. Two new National Champions have ushered......
The 2020 New Zealand Surf Open (Unofficial) is the impulsive gathering of New Zealand’s best surfers at a break that is completely pumping. It is unscripted. It has no rules. It has no timeframes. And no parameters. Just 40, or so, of the best surfers in New Zealand over a......
Inspirational Hawaiian surfer Bethany Hamilton has been awarded the international wildcard spot for the Piha Pro Challenger Series Event to be held at Piha in March 2020. Hamilton has had a few years away from competing while she has focused on her feature film Unstoppable, which tells her incredible life......
Mahia surfer Ricardo Christie has saved his best for last in the 2019 World Surf League Championship Tour, despatching World Title hopeful, Felipe Toledo in the Round of 32 at the Billabong Pipe Masters in Memory of Andy Irons. It was a thrilling Round of 32 at Pipeline, Hawaii, that......
Paul Moretti and Elin Tawharu have claimed their maiden New Zealand Surf Series victories, winning the season-ending Backdoor Pro at Fitzroy Beach, New Plymouth at the weekend. The event was relocated to Fitzroy Beach with the pending weather for the day looking ominous. However, the surf ranged between 1.0m –......
Life on the edge of a desert is simple living. Especially on Western Australia’s remote coastline when a swell begins pushing across the reefs and points. Laurie Towner reminds us all of the importance of the simple life. A renowned big wave surfer, the very laidback Towner, steals a chance......
Chris Malone and Zhana Hutchieson surfed to victory at the Aotearoa Maori Titles at the end of October and in doing so claim two of the coveted trials slots for the Piha Pro scheduled for March 2020. Malone and Hutchieson fought off some tough opponents with excellent surfing on the......
Waikato surfers dominate at the 2019 National Scholastic Surfing Championships claiming the team title, winning two of the seven titles on offer and boasting six surfers in the finals. The five-day event wrapped up yesterday in a 1.5m swell at Manu Bay, Raglan. Finals day saw the biggest surf of......
New Zealand surfers Tane Bowden and Saffi Vette have dominated the final event of the Hydralyte Sports Surf Series, winning the men’s and women’s divisions at Jan Juc, Victoria, today. With a small swell on offer on the final day of competition, the event again shifted from Bells Beach to......