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.
John John Florence has announced he has ruptured his ACL while in Brazil and has withdrawn from the 2019 Corona Open at Jeffreys Bay. The current World Championship Tour leader is opting to go straight under the knife, likely ending any chance of a return to competition in 2019. The......
Surfing’s Olympic future in good health after the International Olympic Committee (IOC) votes to include surfing on the sports programme for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. The vote, by the IOC membership, came today during the 134th IOC session in Lausanne, Switzerland. Final ratification will be made by the IOC......
There is no hiding the fact that the first four World Championship Tour events for 2019 have been a battle for our New Zealand athletes, Paige Hareb and Ricardo Christie. Both have chalked up a slew of first round exits. But those results don’t quite tell the whole story. On......
Details have been revealed about a bid for Auckland to host a World Qualifying Series 10,000-rated event at Piha in March 2020: the Piha Pro. But it is not a done deal … just yet. A document leaked to the NZ Herald today suggests the event will be a QS10,000......
With a nod to his heritage and tapping into the power of his lineage Ricardo Christie is now wearing the Maori flag, Tino rangatiratanga, on the right sleeve of his World Championship Tour jersey. If his first outing at the Corona Bali Protected Championship Tour event at Keramas, Bali, is......
Raglan’s Billy Stairmand has won the 2019 Gold Coast Open today taking down Lennox Head’s Stuart Kennedy in a thrilling final in peeling 2-3ft waves at Burleigh Point. Crowds swarmed to the Burleigh Hill in the thousands to witness some world-class surfing in the natural amphitheater that is Burleigh Point......
She’s only 13, but Christchurch surfer Ava Henderson is punching way above her weight, taking on the Under 16s, Under 18s and Under 20s like an athlete on a mission. And she’s the whole package: nice as pie to chat to after a heat, friendly and smart. But even her......
Elliott Paerata-Reid and Billy Stairmand have launched into the top 100 in the World Qualifying Series after their performances at the Krui Pro held at Tanjung Setia Beach, Lampung, Sumatra. Stairmand was the form surfer of the event dominating through his early heats on his journey to the finals. The......
Maz Quinn claims his second win of the 2019 New Zealand Surf Series by taking out the Exit Surf Men’s Canterbury Surfing Championships held at Taylor’s Mistake at the weekend. The win elevates Quinn to second overall on the national rankings at a time when the 42-year-old has semi-stood back......
Zen Wallis defends title at the Emerson’s South Island Surfing Championships and claims his second career win on the New Zealand Surf Series. He is joined by 17-year-old Estella Hungerford who wins first ever title in the Open Women’s Division. Despite a small 1-3 foot swell throughout the three-day event......