Junior surfers make waves at World Junior Championships in El Salvador

Kiwi surfers are making waves at the World Junior Championships in El Salvador with eight out of nine making it through the first round so far.

In the Under 16 girls’ division, Lola Groube, 13, from Pauanui, was placed first in her first round of heats, knocking out surfers from Canada and Guatemala to move into round two, her mother Amber Cordero, speaking from El Salvador, confirmed on Monday.

Earlier in the Under 16 girls’ division Alani Morse from Raglan placed second.

On Monday, Cordero said nine Kiwi junior surfers out of a team of 12 have now hit the waves at the World Junior Championships in El Salvador, with eight making it through to their next round of heats.

On day one of the event, following a haka by the junior team at the opening ceremony, Taimana Marupo of Mount Maunganui and Northlander Indi Lee Ruddell won their first-round match-ups.

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Tai Murphy from Whakatane placed second in the Under 18 boys’ division.

Cordero said three juniors were taking to the waves tomorrow, including Harrison Biddle from Whangamatā surfing in the Under 16 boys’ division.

He will face off against juniors from Canada, Nicaragua and the Ukraine.

Groube surfed in “fun” one to two-metre waves. The lack of wind made for ideal conditions in the opening round, surfing in a break known as El Sunzal.

Groube surfed well in her first heat, Cordero said. There are up to six rounds to complete during the knock-out event, before the finals.

Groube will face surfers from Mexico, Netherlands and Spain in the next round of competition on Tuesday.

“The further you get the more points you get for your team; she is in good form and she is surfing really well.”

Groube’s goal was to better last year’s result when, on her debut, she was the star of the New Zealand team in 2023 and placed 19th at the World Junior Championships.

Groube made waves in Pāuanui in March, breaking a record at the inaugural New Zealand Women’s Surfing Surf Festival, when at the age of 12, she became the youngest winner of a national surfing event.

She not only took out the title in the Open Women’s Division but also won the top title in the Under-18 and Under-16 Girls Divisions.

Biddle, a first-timer at the worlds, was among juniors from Whangamatā Area School who scooped up a big win at the inaugural New Zealand School Surfing Festival held at Auckland’s Muriwai Beach in March.

Whangamatā Area School claimed the Cranch Cup in the boys’ division, awarded in honour of school surfing stalwart Carol Cranch, who instigated the New Zealand school surfing programme in the late 80s with the formation of the Scholastic Championships.

Biddle joins the team off the back of a stellar season with multiple heat wins and finals finishes.

Morse represented New Zealand at the World Juniors in 2023 and retained the Year 7 and 8 girls’ division primary school surfing championships in September, a title she won the previous year.

After a long day participating in the opening ceremony on Saturday, where 440 of the world’s best junior surfers gathered to celebrate the opening of the 2024 World Junior Surfing Championship (WJSC), the junior surfers got straight to business with the Under 18 boys’ division taking to the water.

A record-breaking 54 teams are attending the event this year making it one of the biggest World Junior Championships ever.

The team competes in Surf City, El Salvador from May 3 to 12.

In 2023 the New Zealand Team placed 10th overall.

The championship is the largest junior surfing event in the world with surfers from 44 nations in 2024.