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The medals have been awarded, t-shirts and hats exchanged between athletes and coaches from different countries, and the board bags have been packed for the long commutes home. The line-up at Playa Venao is back to its quiet, picturesque self. Eight days have come and gone and the 2012 DAKINE ISA World Junior Surfing Championship Presented by Billabong is just a memory.
“It’s always a bittersweet feeling when an event comes to a close, especially one as wonderful as this ISA World Juniors in Panama,” said Fernando Aguerre, the President of the ISA. “It’s a long week full of emotion; you’re physically and mentally exhausted by the end. But so many great memories and new friendships are made. Those are the aspects that motivate us to make each event bigger and better every year.”
In conditions that ranged from overhead, roping walls to closeout aerial ramps to chest-high “Lowers (Trestles) right,” according to USA’s Griffin Colapinto, athletes from 31 nations contested at Playa Venao with hopes that at the end they were able to call themselves an ISA World Junior Champion.
For the likes of Hawaii’s Koa Smith, Portugal’s Vasco Ribeiro, USA’s Jake Halstead, Japan’s Hiroto Arai, or South Africa’s Dylan Lightfoot or Sarah Baum, the 2012 edition was a chance to win another medal, and hopefully one step better than they’d won previously. For other surfers, like New Zealand’s Ben Poulter, USA’s Quincy Davis or Barbados’ Chelsea Tuach, who’ve finished in the top 10, it was a chance to reach the allusive podium.
At the Opening Ceremony in nearby Pedasi, the 31 nations marched through the streets, waving the flags and wearing the colors of their country. Each team sent a flag bearer and a representative onto the stage for the traditional Sands of the World Ceremony, where sands from home beaches are poured into a glass container, representing the peaceful gathering of nations through the love of surfing.
Over the course of eight days, the record-number 303 surfers competed in three divisions, working to advance toward the best possible result. Those who were able to win heats and continue advancing, stayed in the Qualifying Rounds. Those who fell to the bottom of a heat, were relegated to the Repechage. The unique double-elimination format of the ISA ensures that every surfer, whether a contest veteran or a newcomer has at least two chances to prove themselves.
On Day 6, competition ended early, and the event shifted its focus to the ISA Aloha Cup, a unique ISA event which uses five surfers per team and a tag-team exchange to send team members into the water – the format is one that the ISA believes surfing can use whenever it is in the Olympics. At the end of the hour-long Final, Brazil had one surfer remaining in the water and an opportunity to take the lead over France, but no scoring waves came as the time clock expired. On the shore, the French contingent was ecstatic, jumping and singing the songs of their country.
While the ISA Aloha Cup proved to be “the most exciting one that I can remember,” according to ISA President Aguerre, the next day, the teams and athletes went right back to focusing on the primary goal. With the best junior surfers in the world competing at the largest and most important under-18 surfing event in the world, upsets happened and new talents were discovered. That’s been part of the history of this event. Past champions include Jordy Smith, Owen Wright, Jeremy Flores, Stephanie Gilmore, Carissa Moore and Coco Ho, all of whom are at the top of their profession on the ASP World Tour.
Dax McGill may well join that elite group. Coco Ho even commented on an Instagram photo of McGill being chaired by teammates: “Congrats Dax! I never even made the final in all my years competing in ISA!” At just 14 years old, McGill had an initial goal of making the third round. Just making the team was a huge honor for her. But once she began competing in Panama, she wasted little time exerting herself as a major threat for the Final. She was taking risks in critical spots on a wave, making stronger turns and simply surfing beyond her years. She was a part of a contingent of female Hawaiian surfers that proved to be some of the strongest in the division. In the four-person Final, McGill was joined by two teammates – Mahina Maeda and Tatiana Weston-Webb.
In the Girls Under-18 Final, she managed to survive a late-heat comeback by Australia’s Ellie-Jean Coffey – who was undefeated in the event heading into the Final – answering her heat-changing score with one of her own. McGill locked up the heat, the Gold Medal and her name in destiny. Her teammates, Weston-Webb and Maeda finished with Bronze and Copper, respectively.
In the very next heat, Kalani David managed to maintain the momentum Team Aloha and he had built up the past couple days. Using an all-out aerial attack, David distanced himself from the competition in the Boys Under-16 Final. Reserved in previous interviews, the 14-year-old Hawaiian was all smiles and praise.
“I’m super stoked right now. It means the world to me to win the Gold Medal,” David said. “Being in a contest with junior surfers from all around the world, it definitely is something I’ll remember forever.”
In the last heat of the day and the event, a pair of Brazilians dominated, reinforcing why Brazil is considered a surfing superpower. Combining innovative maneuvers with powerful turns, Matheus Navarro and Deivid Silva distanced themselves from the other two finalists and battled for the Gold Medal. With the final minutes of the clock ticking away, the two had an exchange that represented the type of surfing they’d done all week. On a right-hand wave, Silva found speed in unexpected places, floating over multiple closeout sections before landing a backside reverse with no grab, for a 9.33.
A short while later, the regular-footed Navarro – who needed an 8.3 to catch Silva – found a long right and executed every maneuver he could think of. He mixed vertical snaps with polished, swooping turns and closed the wave with a two-hand first-pump. His excitement, and that of the Brazilian team – which went running down the beach toward Navarro – were justified. The judges awarded him an 8.43, which was just enough to move him into the Gold Medal position, with a two-wave total of 16.90. Silva finished in the Silver Medal spot with a 16.80.
“It was a really long week, I think I competed in over 10 heats and made it all the way to the final. I lost in the second round and fell to the Repechage, so it was really tough to face that. But one of the coaches told me that in this event in Portugal 2007, Jadson Andre had the same luck and ended up winning the Gold,” said Navarro, who carried up the beach by his team as the new ISA World Junior Champion.
Following the final heat of the day, the festivities transitioned to the medal podium and the Closing Ceremony. Each of the four finalists received their medals, and it was announced that Hawaii had won the Team Gold, its first since 2005.
With all 31 nations surrounding the stage, and photographers and videographers packing the press area, the ISA President shared some words expressing his overwhelming joy after a near-perfect event.
“Surfing and the ISA love Panama. I want to thank the organizers of the event, Tuti de León and Patrick Castagnet. They have organized three wonderful events for the ISA in 20 months. [President Ricardo Martinelli, who was present for all the Finals and distributed medals during the Closing Ceremony] has confirmed that he wants us back next year with one of the ISA major events, so we may meet each other again,” Aguerre said. “Thank you so much everybody and I want to leave by saying something really important: some of you are going back home with a medal and others not, but each one of you are champions and this experience will remain in your hearts for the rest of your life.”
With the historic and record-breaking DAKINE ISA World Junior Surfing Championship Presented by Billabong coming to an end, the world is now anticipating the 2013 edition. The world’s best juniors will gather again for eight days of competition, camaraderie and to show the future of surfing.
ISA Aloha Cup Final
Gold: France – 58.46
Silver: Hawaii – 57.77
Bronze: Brazil – 48.07
Copper: Peru – 37.43
Girls Under-18 Final
Gold: Dax McGill (HAW) – 12.60
Silver: Ellie Jean Coffey (AUS) – 9.20
Bronze: Tatiana W-Webb (HAW) – 8.53
Copper: Mahina Maeda (HAW) – 8.24
Boys Under-16 Final
Gold: Kalani David (HAW) – 13.50
Silver: Takumi Nakamura (JPN) – 13.40
Bronze: Noe Mar McGonagle (CRC) – 11.34
Copper: Josh Moniz (HAW) – 11.17
Boys Under-18 Final
Gold: Matheus Navarro (BRA) – 16.93
Silver: Deivid Silva (BRA) – 16.83
Bronze: Vasco Ribeiro (POR) – 11.77
Copper: Joshua Hay (AUS) – 11.37
Final ISA World Juniors Team Ranking
Gold: Hawaii
Silver: Australia
Bronze: Brazil
Copper: USA
5. Japan
6. France
7. Peru
8. Portugal
9. South Africa
10. New Zealand
11. Costa Rica
12. Tahiti
13. Argentina
14. Great Britain
15. Venezuela
16. Barbados
17. Panama
18. Mexico
19. Germany
20. Ecuador
21. Uruguay
22. Puerto Rico
23. El Salvador
24. Spain
25. Guatemala
26. Jamaica
27. Italy
28. Chile
29. Canada
30. Switzerland
31. Nicaragua
The DAKINE ISA World Junior Surfing Championship Presented by Billabong is made possible with the support of the following event partners: DAKINE, Billabong, Panamá, Super Deportes, Mini, Dollar Rent A Car, Copa Airlines, Extreme Surf & Sport. The media partners are Surfea Panama, FOX Sports, Surfersvillage and Surfos. The Official Forecaster for the event is Surfline.
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