Individual Golds Go to Stephanie Gilmore of Australia, Tonino Benson of Hawaii and Jéferson Silva of Brazil
Huntington Beach, Calif., October 16, 2005 – The Quiksilver ISA World Junior Surfing Championships concluded today awarding Hawaii the 2005 World Junior Surfing Champions with 5,904 total points. Brazil earned silver with 5,321 points, USA bronze with 5,173 points and Australia copper with 4,966 points. Individual gold medals and world titles went to Jéferson Silva of Brazil in Boys Under 18, the defending junior world title holder Stephanie Gilmore of Australia in Girls Under 18 and Tonino Benson of Hawaii in Boys Under 16.
The nine day event began last Saturday, October 8, gathering 28 teams from around the world representing the global surfing community and marking the largest junior event to date. Some teams arrived with full squads of 12 surfers plus coaches, managers, translators and alternates, while others like the Dominican Republic, Germany, Guatemala and Ireland came with only one or two surfers to represent their country. The International Surfing Association (ISA), the world governing authority for wave-riding as recognized by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), organized the annual event.
“The 2005 Quiksilver ISA World Junior Surfing Championships has been a triumph of love for surfing,” said ISA President Fernando Aguerre. “We've just seen nearly 300 junior surfers from 28 countries surf almost 5,000 waves in 270 heats over eight days with the conditions in Huntington remaining good throughout. Some athletes came from nations where the cost of a plane ticket is one year's salary and they've gone home knowing they've represented their countries well, worn their colors, waved their flags and done it all while doing what they love most, surfing. We've shown the world what the ISA and our surfing tribe know: There is more that unites us as surfers and human beings than separates us. With this amazing network of family, friends and supporters from around the globe this has been possible. Muchas gracias to Quiksilver and to all the teams.”
Today saw some of the best surfing action in the world as the last six remaining countries, Australia, Brazil, Hawaii, New Zealand, South Africa and the USA competed in nine heats of semi-finals, finals and grand finals. Wrapping up the week-long contest and with the competition very close, the inconsistent and windy conditions added to the challenge for the surfers in the water. Yet the talent of the surfers prevailed.
It was a case of déjà vu in the Girls Under 18 final where Stephanie Gilmore of Australia secured her second consecutive World Title and the gold medal with a solid two-wave combined score of 17.70 followed by USA’s Karina Petroni earning silver for the second year in a row with a 12.20. “There has been a lot of learning,” said Stephanie Gilmore. “I am preparing for the ‘CT, and am feeling more confident for the ‘QS. I have had a little bit more experience than the other girls, but I still see myself on the same level as them. I can’t get too cocky because you never know what’s around the corner.”
Hawaii’s Carissa Moore and Lani Hunter secured the bronze and copper medals respectively. Petroni and Moore, examples of how surfers can lose in a qualifier and work back up into the finals through the repercharge rounds, both had lost heats earlier in the contest.
The climactic Boys Under 16 division ended with Tonino Benson taking the win, title and medal. Taking some big risks paid off for the Hawaiian team with both Benson and teammate/Quiksilver team rider Clay Marzo successfully landing some huge maneuvers and taking the gold and silver respectively. “I am stoked I got the win,” said 15-year-old Tonino Benson from Kona, Hawaii. “It’s the biggest win of my career. Hawaii has very different waves from here. It’s pretty challenging, but I just got off the East Coast and that helped me prepare for the waves here. Finally all my work is paying off.”
Australian David Delroy-Carr came in third for the bronze and Brazilian Wiggolly Dantas took copper, dropping from first to fourth in the last few minutes of the heat for an interference call against him.
