Sa Champs News Today

Seven-year-old Desmond Koolen of Johannesburg made actor Will Smith’s day with a clip of him “warming up” for a performance by singing for his class assembly.

Tom Lindhorst set up his SA Champs well. He surfed every morning before the contest started and every evening after the contest finished so that he knew the break intimately.

Go long. When you step on a 9’0” it is a slightly different crew of surfers you ride with. A little more mature in attitude possibly, laid back, slightly more mindful and a touch more likely to stop and smell the roses. All personalities are valid. Sanguine, melancholic, phlegmatic and choleric equally apply to those who cross-step, but perhaps a little extra emphasis applies to the longboarders when it comes to style, grace and enjoyment.

Injury time is no fun. Dean Evers recently had knee surgery, so did Tom Lindhorst. Both younger and stronger than me. Ulf von Delft did a hamstring and so did Richard Heny, again, younger and stronger than me. I guess I should not be surprised, even expectant perhaps. It is a good thing I have been watching Jordan Peterson in discussion with Father Dave Pivonka at the Franciscan University of Steubenville.

Point in JBay is a fantastic venue. A long gentle right hand wall peels down the rock fringed coastline in a format that offers surfers full opportunity to show their game to the judges. Surfers the world over dream of surfing JBay and recent Olympic competitors from Japan might cry if they saw our waves.