On Sunday 22nd January the 2012 NZ Junior Surfing Development Squad had its first "on the beach" get together at South Piha. The 25 strong squad, which includes a handful of 2012 Age Group National Champions, were put through their paces by Head Coach Jason Ruddell along with Assistant Coach Warren Asplin and Team Manager Tony Baker, in a range of land and water based training exercises.

Following an extensive Physical Training session the squad then took part in some heat drill exercises to develop strategies for the "pressure cooker" environment they should expect at the ISA World Junior event in April. With waves in the 1.5 - 2.0m range breaking at South Piha, surfers took part in heats that tested their skills, and gave the Team Managers and National Selectors a better understanding of each surfers competitive ability. Following the heat drills the Head Coach then imparted some valuable dynamic and static stretching exercises that the squad can include in their own training programmes.

The squad will next meet in Mt. Maunganui on the 6th / 7th February to complete further fitness testing, before the official 2012 NZ Junior Surfing Team being named on the 14th February 2012.

  Back Row - Jules Craft, Jason Ruddell, Dune Kennings,
Mac Christie, Ware Wano, Elliot Paerata - Reid, Warren
Asplin, Adam Grimson, Tane Wallis, Paul Moretti, Manu
Scott - Arrieta, Harrison Whiteside, Mac Bowden, Tony
Baker
Front Row - Ella Williams, Dayna Story, Gabriela Sansom,
Jasmine Smith, Bianca Sansom, Jayda Martin - Fitzharris,
Kehu Butler   

Please see below for a schedule of events at the 2012 Hyundai National Championships.

This is a guide only. For example we will do as much of the longboard as feasibly possible over the first two days which will mean that there is likely to be longboard finals only to be contested after Monday. Open Men will start on the 17th at the earliest but may not run every day stated. Women’s (excluding women’s longboard) and all senior men’s divisions (Over 28s – Over 60s) will start on the 18th at the earliest. Depending on numbers and conditions some finals will be contested prior to the final day.

Day 1 (Sun 15th Jan) - All longboard, SUP Surf and SUP Race, U14 Boys, U16 Boys

Day 2 (Mon 16th Jan) - All longboard, SUP Surf, U14 Boys, U16 Boys

Day 3 (Tues 17th Jan) - Open Men, Under 18, 16, 14 Boys, All longboard, SUP Surf

Day 4 (Wed 18th Jan) - Open Men, Under 18, 16, 14 Boys, All longboard, SUP Surf, All Women’s, All Seniors

Day 5 (Thurs 19th Jan) - Open Men, Under 18, 16, 14 Boys, All longboard, SUP Surf, All Women’s, All Seniors, Kneeboard

Day 6 (Fri 20th Jan) - Open Men, Under 18, 16, 14 Boys, All longboard, SUP Surf, All Women’s, All Seniors, Potentially some finals

Day 7 (Sat 21st Jan) - Finals, All Bodyboard

The draw for the first event of the 2012 Hyundai Tour at Raglan on the 7-8 January has been released.  All surfers are to meet at Manu Bay, Raglan at 7:00am for an 8:00am sharp start.  Don't forget to ring the hotline for schedule of events from 7:00am.  The number is 0211134506.

2012 Hyundai Tour Event 1, Raglan Draw

Team France won the Sportzone ISA World Bodyboard Championship yesterday, Sunday, November 4, in Galdar, Spain. The hollow waves of La Guancha offered solid 6 feet conditions, perfect for the world's best bodyboarders to show their arsenal of moves.

In what was looking like it was going to be a Spanish party, with a perfect performance in the last heat of the event, the French team took the lead out of local hands and went back home with the trophy.

After doing a set of backflips and clean air moves, Pierre Louis Costes reached a combined score of 19.00 (out of possible 20) to win the Gold Medal of the Open Men division. His fellow team mate, 2010 IBA World Champion, Amaury Laverhne, placed second scoring 17.77.

Seventeen year-old Australian Lachlan Cramsie delivered a great performance, placing third with a combined score of 15.77, while local Yeray Martínez couldn't deliver and placed fourth with 8.16 on his best two waves.

The grand final had the best possible result for the French Team and the worst possible for the Spanish. In a day that started with Spain as a leader, Costes and Laverhne flipped the results in their favor and gave the Team Trophy to France.

ISA President Fernando Aguerre commented, "Congratulations to France for their Team Gold Medal performance, and to each of the athletes who won the individual Gold Medals. I would also like to extend my congratulations to all the bodyboarders who participated in the event representing their countries. A special thank you to the Spanish Surfing Federation (FES) for hosting this great event."

Final results
Open Men
Gold: Pierre Louis Costes (FRA)
Silver: Amaury Laverhne (FRA)
Bronze: Lachlan Cramsie (AUS)
Copper: Yeray Martínez (SPA) Open Women
Gold: Isabela Sousa (BRA)
Silver: Anne Cécile Lacoste (FRA)
Bronze: Alexandra Rinder (GER)
Copper: Ruth Parra (VEN)

Drop Knee
Gold: Ardiel Jiménez (SPA)
Silver: Dylan Van Tonder (RSA)
Bronze: Luis Pereira (POR)
Copper: Amaury Laverhne (FRA) Junior
Gold: Eduardo Rodríguez (SPA)
Silver: Anass Haddar (MOR)
Bronze: Oliver Rinder (GER)
Copper: Matías Díaz (CHI)

Final Team Standings
Gold: France
Silver: Spain
Bronze: Chile
Copper: Morocco

Final Team Standings
1 France
2 Spain
3 Chile
4 Morocco
5 Australia
6 Portugal
7 Puerto Rico
8 Japan
9 Brazil
10 Germany
11 Venezuela
12 Peru
13 South Africa
14 Great Britain
15 Ireland
16 Aruba
17 Mexico
18 Italy
19 Israel
20 Cape Verde

Media Contacts:
Pablo Zanocchi
Media Manager
International Surfing Association
Pablo@isasurf.org

Isabela Souza (BRA) in Open Women, Eduardo Rodríguez (SPA) in Junior and Ardiel Jiménez (SPA) in Drop-Knee today won the Gold Medals in the 2011 Sportzone ISA World Bodyboard Championship. The event is taking place in Galdar, Gran Canaria, Spain, and will come to an end tomorrow with the crowning of the Open Men and Team Champions. After two days of amazing waves in El Frontón, the event relocated in La Guancha where the waves broke with contestable 3 to 4 feet surf. With two golds now in its pocket, the local Spanish team made it to the top of the partial ratings and lead to the final day as favorites to win the Team Gold.

With one day to go, the top 5 countries are:
1. Spain - 6195 points
2. France - 5860 points
3. Portugal - 5643 points
4. Chile - 5583 points
5. Japan - 5195 points

Today's first final saw 2010 IBA World Champion and event favorite, Isabela Sousa (BRA), winning over Anne Cécile Lacoste (FRA, second), Alexandra Rinder (GER, third) and Ruth Parra (VEN, fourth).

The most exciting heat of the day was the Junior final, with local Eduardo Rodríguez leaving the rest of the heat needing a combination of scores after lighting up his heat with different repertoires of aereal moves. Anass Haddar (MOR) placed second, Oliver Rinder (GER), third and Matías Díaz (CHI) fourth.

On the Drop-Knee, a great barrel gave local Ardiel Jiménez an excelent score and the victory. South African Dylan Van Tonder placed second, French Amaury Lavernhe third and Portuguese Luis Pereira, fourth.

The Open Final will be held tomorrow with everyone anticipating a great display. The competition will move back again to El Frontón. Dont miss the live webcast here www.oceansmedia.es.

Partial Team Standings
1 Spain 6195 Points
2 France 5860 Points
3 Portugal 5643 Points
4 Chile 5583 Points
5 Japan 5195 Points
6 Australia 5173 Points
7 Morocco 4610 Points
8 Peru 4470 Points
9 Brazil 4426 Points
10 Puerto Rico 4418 Points
11 South Africa 4410 Points
12 Venezuela 4370 Points
13 Great Britain 4068 Points
14 Germany 3350 Points
15 Ireland 2695 Points
16 Aruba 2365 Points
17 Mexico 2328 Points
18 Italy 2090 Points
19 Israel 1963 Points
20 Cape Verde 1793 Points

The world's biggest bodyboarding team event will kick off tomorrow in Galdar with the Parade of the Nations and the Sands of the World Ceremony. The Sportzone ISA World Bodyboard Surfing Championship will feature the discipline's best athletes from 21 countries.

Everything's set to start in one of the two possible locations of La Guancha and the infamous barrels of El Frontón. The teams, already on-site and ready to compete, are: Portugal, France, Great Britain, Germany, Italy, Morocco, South Africa, Cape Verde, Peru, Chile, Mexico, Venezuela, Puerto Rico, Brazil, Colombia, Guatemala, Argentina, Canada, Australia, Japan and the host, Spain. "We have a good team and I'm really happy to be part of this event," said 2010 IBA World Champion, Amaury Lavernhe (REU), who has been training on-site for the last few days. "I don't think I'm a favorite, since there are so many great riders here like Yeray Martinez (SPA), Diego Cabrera (SPA), Jarred Houston (RSA) and Pierre Louis Costes (FRA) among others. We have a good team and the waves are perfect, so I'm stoked. I would like to thank all Canary locals for sharing this amazing spot with us."

This is the 12th time for the ISA to crown a World Bodyboard Champion. First ISA Gold Medalist of the discipline was USA's Chris Cunninghan, crowned in Puerto Rico, 1988. This is, however, the first bodyboard only team-event in history, with nations from all over the world, and with the Team Trophy as the top prize. Starting tomorrow, teams consisting of two Open Men, one Open Women, one Under 18 Men and one Drop Knee, will compete for the glory in the Sportzone ISA World Bodyboard Championship.

Follow the action live at www.sportzoneisabodyboard.com