Day three of Quiksilver ISA World Junior Surfing Championships The first signs of the swell started filling in today with the surf hitting in the three-to-five foot range. The Girls division took over the fun beach break for their round one heats and their first appearance at theQuiksilver ISA World Junior Surfing Championship. Taking advantage of the fun morning conditions, girls from the USA, Australia, Hawaii, Brazil, and France managed to score high and place first in every single heat. The women's USA team finished out the day with first place finishes by every athlete. For the first time in ISA history, both girls and boys division from the USA team took first place in every preliminary heat. Midmorning I went for a stroll on the beach and all of a sudden I heard loud yelps. As I turned around, I saw the national flag raised high and the local crowd going loco, like a rowdy Brazilian soccer crowd, when three local Ecuadorians took first in their heats.Jonathan Zambrano also known as El Gato for his crazy eyes is Ecuador's lethal weapon. Coming from a humble Ecuadorian background, this sponsor less young grom has a ton of talent and a bright future ahead of him. I'm stoked to see what sort of tricks he's got up his sleeves for the rest of this event. After the heats today, I made it over to Hotel Mediterraneo where eight teams are staying for the week. It was a treat to see the teams mingling and the camaraderie between athletes from every nationality. It was like being behind the scenes at an Olympic event. I somehow managed to listen in on a pep talk Coach Joey Buran gave to the USA team in preparation for tomorrow's heats. Unlike most surf coaches I have met at this event, this guy has gusto and is perhaps the most animated character to be sport the red, white, and blue this week. I'm psyched, there's gonna be more swell coming in tomorrow. Should make for a good day of heats. Hasta manana! JimJims Channels: Surf Day two of Quiksilver ISA World Junior Surfing ChampionshipsDay two of Quiksilver ISA World Junior Surfing Championships! Heats started bright and early at 8 a.m. The US team came out blazing with every single male competitor winning their heats. Chase Wilson blew his competition out the water with the maneuver of the day by sticking an insane frontside 360 air. Also, showing up five minutes late to his heat from a free surf session, Kalohe Andino managed to post some good scores against his competitors and stop them dead in their tracks. Both Wilson and Andino posted the highest scores amongst other US team members for the day. Keep your eyes pealed for these guys and the rest of the team, they will definitely be among the heavy hitters of the week. Australia's power house male surfers will also be another force not to be reckoned with this year. They have taken the ISA by storm winning the WJSC the last three years in a row. With already a gold metal under his belt from the 2007 games in Portugal, Quiksilver's young gun Garratt Parkes will be leading the charge for Australia. Posting the 2nd highest score of the day at 16.5; Parkes poses as a major threat to competing surfers. The day's highest score was a 17.73 by Dimitri Ouvre from France who completely slaughtered the waves in his heat. He will definitely be France's major contender for a crack at this year's Quiksilver ISA World Junior Surfing Championships. Lone warrior Rex Calderon from Nicaragua placed second in his heat. I'm excited to see what kind of secret weapons this one man Nicaraguan army is capable of doing in the next round. Other standout team performances for the day included Tahiti, Brazil, and Hawaii. Individuals from these teams managed to take first or second place in their heats, allowing them to advance to the next round. Today was a great day, but it's only going to get better as these groms take their surfing to the next level. Rumor has it that by midweek we should be getting a solid sized swell in. I'm keeping my fingers crossed. One day at a time though, one day at a time... Until tomorrow amigos! JimJims Channels: Surf Day one of the 2009 Quiksilver ISA World Junior Surfing ChampionshipsToday was day one of the 2009 Quiksilver ISA World Junior Surfing Championships in Salinas, Ecuador. To kick-start the event, the town held a ceremonial parade in the warm Ecuadorian afternoon. Around thirty teams from all around the globe came decked out in colorful garb waiving their national flags down the main street here in Salinas. South Africa took the cake for the best-dressed award wearing green blazers, green ties, white button ups, and khaki dress pants. I'm sure they were feeling the heat of the day as I was dripping sweat just standing in my t-shirt and shorts. When asked about the attire, one South African parent explained that this outfit is worn on occasion during formal as well as casual surfing events back home. In the midst of all the countries represented today was the Moroccan national team. Unlike most teams participating in the event, Morocco is comprised of two young surfers. Nicaragua's national team on the other hand has just one grommet representing his country. I'm psyched for these two teams and will for sure be rooting for these guys to advance. Overall, the ceremony was a blast and a great icebreaker for the teams to celebrate together before they put their game faces on and attack La FAE's left point break. Heats for the event start bright and early tomorrow morning at eight. I'm excited to see what's in store. It's gonna be an interesting week of surf! Well, that's about it for now. Until next time! -JimJims 2009 Quiksilver ISA World Junior Surfing ChampionshipsGood day folks! Tomorrow March the 28th marks day one of the 2009 Quiksilver ISA World Junior Surfing Championships here in Salinas, Ecuador. The contest will be held at ' La FAE,' an Ecuadorian air force base conveniently located right on the beach with a reeling left point break out front. Fernando Aguerre, the ISA president announced today at the press conference that a record high of 264 athletes from all around the globe will be competing for this year's title. Garrett Parkes and Laura Enever from the Australian team were on tap for today's press conference. Both have medaled and lead their team to first place finishes the past two years. Along with the rest of the Australian roster, these two will definitely be ones to keep an eye out for this week. Make sure to check out the live webcast on GrindTV. After takin' care of business at the press conference, I went out for a surf at La FAE with some of the Quik guys Troy Brooks, Magnum Martinez, and 89 WCT champ Martin Potter. It might be 20 years since Potz won his world title, but the guy is still charging it hard out there. With over 200 grommets in town for the contest, today's warm-up sesh was shoulder to shoulder and a little scrappy. The level of talent out in the line-up is insane! I'm pretty amped to see what these future-champs are going to do in four-man heats. Stay tuned as we will be keeping you guys posted daily. Over and out! JimJims ISA announces judging panel for 2009 Quiksilver ISA World Junior Surfing Championship25 February 2009, La Jolla, CA - The ISA is honored to Meet HEAD JUDGE 1 Glen Elliott AUS HEAD JUDGE 2 Cyril Nel ZAF HEAD JUDGE 3 Jordao Bailo Jr BRA ISA JUDGE Charta Bartlett AUS ISA JUDGE Armando Rodrigues Da Silva BRA ISA JUDGE Makani McDonald HAW ISA JUDGE Robby Haugen USA ISA JUDGE Bruno Truch FRA ISA JUDGE Gavin Bisman NZL TEAM JUDGE Bongani Xulu ZAF TEAM JUDGE Margot Tuach BAR TEAM JUDGE Fernando Carlin PER TEAM JUDGE Tiago Matos POR TEAM JUDGE Katsumi Tateyama JAP TEAM JUDGE Alex Valverde CRI APPOINTED JUDGE Cirilo Yagual ECU APPOINTED JUDGE Carla Twelkemeier GER Channels: Surf |
