Dune Kennings with some fans

Dune Kennings returned from France in the weekend.  He has just attended the Quiksilver King of the Groms which was held as part of the ASP Quiksilver Pro.  Dune shared a few thoughts about his trip and described some of the highlights.

SNZ: How did you go in the comp, who did you beat and who did you get beaten by?
DK: I went out in the 3rd round.  Did well in the previous rounds but didn't get the waves.  I beat Ida Kesuma from Indo and got beaten by Victor Bernado from Brazil and Mikey Wright from Australia (who won the event).

SNZ: Which groms were ripping the most?
DK: Mikey Wright was definitely on form for the event.  O'Neill Masson from Tahiti was surfing well on big barrelling waves.  Victor Bernado from Brazil had a good air game.

SNZ: Which pros were you most impressed with?
DK: All those that got 10 point rides and of course my favourite surfer Julian Wilson. Blown away by Dane Reynolds who got a wildcard entry and ended up in final with Kelly Slater. In this one particular free surf, I got to surf with Michel Bourez, Julian Wilson, Dusty Payne, Adam Melling, Kai Otton, Mick Fanning, Gabriel Medina.  They were all going crazy on 8ft barrels but the person who impressed me the most in that surf was Michel Bourez.  He took off and free fell on the biggest wave of the day, bottom turn up in the barrel to stand tall for a couple of seconds and then pumped down the line and got spat out.  Epic! 

SNZ: Talk to any of them?
DK: I talked to all of those guys when free surfing and had a couple of chats with Julian Wilson (but didn't want to look like I was stalking him).

SNZ: What was the highlight of the trip?  
DK: Surfing with Julian Wilson and being at a WCT event.  Meeting the other Groms who are the future WCT riders perhaps and making new friends.  Getting amazing surfing sessions in big barrelling waves.

SNZ: What did you learn about comp surfing that you did not already know?  
DK: You have to bring your 'A' game all the time.  To do this you have to train like an athlete to be an athlete and get the results.  

SNZ: What did you learn about France that you did not already know?  
DK: I loved their chocolate croissants.  It felt like home but with a different vibe and the beachy is super heavy.

SNZ: Under Your Skin ran a blog throughout your trip – tell us what that was all about?  
DK: NZ has one of the highest rates of skin cancer in the world and we are trying to get the message across about sun protection and aiming at teenagers etc to start looking after themselves at an early age as this is when the damage starts.

SNZ: What next for Dune Kennings?
DK: Come home, get fit and focussed and do my personalised training routine and start getting ready for next years comps.  Have just been named in the ISA World squad so will start doing some work towards that. Get my school credits done for the year (to get everyone off my back).