For immediate release
21 September 2022
From: Surfing New Zealand
Sport: International Surfing
Event: 2022 ISA World Surfing Games
Divisions: Open Men’s and Women’s
Date: 16-24 September 2022
Location: Huntington Beach, California, USA,
Websites and Social: ISA and Surfing New Zealand #ISAWorlds
Challenging conditions persist on day 4 of the ISA World Surfing Games
Day four of the ISA World Surfing Games saw Brie Bennett take to the water in her repechage round 2 heat. With one last chance it was all or nothing for the young surfer from Raglan who left everything out in the water putting up a great performance throughout the heat. Starting off the with a pair of threes, progression was just within her grasp needing a mere 3.89 to knock her Chinese opponent Yaomei Wu out of second position. Unfortunately, the wave did not eventuate, and Brie was knocked out of the competition with Lucy Campbell of Great Britain taking the top spot.
New Zealand teammates Ariana Shewry and Natasha Gouldsbury were up next against Havana Cabrero (PUR) and Awa Sika Seck of Senegal. Despite the swell slightly increasing and commentators saying that these were some of the best waves Huntington had seen for some time it was still a challenge says Ariana Shewry. “I am so stoked to have finally found my flow and get the job done, the conditions were tricky, but I am stoked on my performance today”. Ariana heads into repechage 3 heat 5 tomorrow at 6:50am (NZST).
In the same heat Natasha got on the board early with a 3.43 however in the tricky conditions was unable to find a backup wave of any significance. With her Puerto Rican opponent Havana Cabero only putting a 4.1 on the board and a small 2.8 back up it was anyone’s game. Natasha looked to be in the running for second place only chasing a 3.51 however it was not to be. Unable to find a second good score Natasha finished in 3rd position, bowing out of the competition.
After todays results the New Zealand Surfing Team are placed 19th in the world with Caleb Cutmore, Daniel Farr and Ariana continuing to surf in the repechage rounds tomorrow.
In repechage heat 1 we will see Caleb Cutmore (Raglan) up first at 2:30am (NZST) against Tao Rodirguez from Panama, Jonathon Zambrano of Ecuador and Colombian Giorgio Gomez.
Soon after Daniel Farr will hit the water at 3:50am (NZST) in heat five of repechage 3. He will have his work cutout for him surfing against Saori Perez of the Dominican Republic, Oliver Hetinz from the Netherlands and Qixiang Wang of China. Should Daniel and Caleb place first or second in their repechage heats they will surf soon after in repechage four at the south podium.
After a morning of men’s surfing the women will again hit the water with the last remaining kiwi Ariana Shewry of Taranaki surfing in the 5th heat of repechage 3. She will surf against Rachel Aguero (CRC), Hila Cohen of Israel and Mia Calderon of Puerto Rico at approximately 6:50am (NZST)
Further heats for all three surfers are subject to progression.
Olympic Qualification
The ISA World Surfing Games is an important event for many teams hoping to get into the 2024 Paris Olympic Games.” In a significant innovation to the Olympic Surfing Qualification System, the winning men’s and women’s National Teams at these World Surfing Games will be allocated one Olympic slot each for their respective country/National Olympic Committee (NOC).
This qualification slot will be in addition to the maximum quota of 2 athletes per country for the 2024 Paris Olympic Games. Fierce competition is expected for this potential third slot for the top teams.”
About International Surfing Association (ISA)
The International Surfing Association (ISA) is recognised by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) as the World Governing Authority for surfing, bodyboarding, SUP and surfriding. It was originally founded as the International Surfing Federation in 1964 and has been running world championships since 1964, and the Junior World Championships since 1980.
The Live Stream can be found Here https://isasurf.org/event/2022-isa-world-surfing-games/
The schedule can be found Here https://isasurf.org/event/2022-isa-world-surfing-games/
The event is being broadcast live over the net via www.isasurf.org. Media releases relating specifically to the New Zealand team’s performance will be distributed throughout the event.
For further information regarding the New Zealand Surfing Team please contact Ben Kennings at Surfing New Zealand 07 8250018, 0212278732 or email benkennings@surfingnz.co.nz.
Imagery
High resolution action images of team members will be available to media free of charge upon request.
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