The largest junior surfing event in the sport’s history is approaching its final stage. With two days to go, 80 surfers from seven countries are fighting for the Individual and Team Gold.

The result of today’s marathon of 52 heats delivered the following partial team ratings:

1- Hawaii
1- USA
3- Australia
4- France
5- Brazil
6- Tahiti
7- Peru

Things are looking favorable for Hawaii and the USA, who still have a mathematical chance to finish with a perfect score. However, anything can happen in the following two days.

History will be written this Friday and Saturday. Who will bring it all back home? Will Australia reign again? Will the US win its first team gold medal in an ISA Junior World Championship? Is Peru going to win another ISA World Championship? Or, none of the above? The answer will be revealed in the water at the tournament for the world’s best Under 18 surfers.

The Peruvian waves proved again to be reliable as a clock. For the fifth day in a row, waves were excellent in Caballeros and Señoritas today with long and glassy 3 to 6 foot faces.

In the Under 18 Boys, the top 12 surfers of the main event were determined after the division’s third round was held. Filipe Toledo from Brazil was the absolute standout in the division. After combining a series of aerial moves, he posted the best single wave score of the day, 9.80, and the highest combined of the division (16.63).

“Getting a score like the one I got makes me really happy,” said Toledo. “I risked changing my board in the last minute and I made the right decision. This is my fifth time in Peru, so knowing the wave really helped me. Our team is doing really well; I just want to say thanks to my teammates for motivating each other.”

Other outstanding surfers in the division include Soli Bailey (AUS), Taylor Clark (USA), Takumi Nakamura (JPN) and Leonardo Fioravanti (ITA), all posting a combined score higher than 12.00.

On the girls’ side, the top 12 surfers of the main event were also determined. Australia’s Codie Klein gave the best performance of the day, posting a combined total of 15.83 (8.50 + 7.33). Meanwhile, the USA’s Lakey Peterson posted 15.66 (8.33 + 7.33) after destroying the long walls of Caballeros.

“I just waited at my spot and luckily two waves came in, the only two I caught,” said Peterson. “I’m always looking for the gold. I’ve worked really hard at home to win this contest. This year we are more organized than ever before, and this is the third time I’m on the team and you can feel the union. Hopefully hard work brings us the gold; we really want it.”

Brianna Cope (HAW), Kulia Doherty (USA), Quincy Davis (USA) and Canelle Bulard (FRA) also won their heats, writing their names in the main event round 4.

The Under 18 Boys main event round 3 saw the highest level of action, with intensely close heats being decided in the last few seconds. Heat 7 is a great example:

1^st- Carlos Zapata (PER) – 11.83
2^nd-Ezequiel Lau (HAW) – 11.56
3^rd- Derek Peters (USA) – 11.50
4^th- Connor O’Leary (AUS) – 11.00

Only 0.83 separated the winner from the loser.

“It is getting harder and harder, heat by heat. It is really important to think about your strategy,” said Zapata. “But above all, you need to fix the mistakes you made in previous heats. This is our beach, the one we know so much, so we don’t have to be nervous, actually, the opposite.”

There are now 16 surfers, along with Zapata, who are in the fourth round of the main event. Davey Brand (RSA), Matheus Navarro (BRA), Vasco Ribeiro (POR), Jake Halstead (USA) and Mike February (RSA) were some of the standouts.

The repechage rounds saw 80 surfers and 9 countries saying goodbye to the event. Some surfing powerhouses had some shockers. South Africa and New Zealand lost seven surfers, Peru five and Brazil four.

It is still too early to make conclusions; lots of waves are going to break in the following days.

The event will be back live tomorrow with the following heats being held:

Señoritas podium
Qualify 4 U18 Girls
Qualify 4 U16 Boys
Qualify 4 U18 Boys
Repechage 6 U18 Girls
Qualify 5 U18 Girls
Qualify 5 U16 Boys
Qualify 5 U18 Boys

Caballeros Podium
Repechage 5 U18 Girls
Repechage 5 U16 Boys
Repechage 5 U18 Boys
Repechage 6 U16 Boys
Repechage 6 U18 Boys
Repechage 7 U18 Girls
Repechage 7 U16 Boys
Repechage 7 U18 Boys