Quiksilver State Titles – NSW
30 July – 3 August 2008
Foster/Tuncurry NSW Australia.
Boomerang Beach, NSW — In near-perfect conditions at Boomerang Beach, the state’s best juniors pushed the levels to new heights.
Surfing in pristine, off-shore 1-1.5m conditions, the Quiksilver State Titles rolled through to the business end of the competition in the under 18 and 16 boys divisions – as the scores soared.
Dean Bowen (Gerroa, NSW) was the standout of day two, attacking Boomerang’s right-handers with vigour.
En-route to racking up the event’s highest single wave score, a 9.25 (out of a possible 10), Bowen looked awesome.
“I had a lot of fun out there this morning,” he said. “Surfing in the state titles amongst all this awesome competition you have to surf well.”
Having been travelling around the country with the likes of Koby Abberton searching for big waves and competing on the biggest stages around the world in recent times, Bowen enjoys coming back to surfing with his mates.
“I have had a pretty crazy year so far, but to come back and surf in this event is really fun,” Bowen said. “There are a heap of good guys surfing in this event so it’s fun to hang out and get some good waves. But in saying that, I still want to win.”
The five-day event sees 200 junior surfers battling it out, across six divisions, for prestigious State Titles and selection into the team that will represent NSW at the Australian Junior Titles scheduled for Margaret River in December
Littered with current and former World and Australian Junior Champions, as well as top-rated ASP Australasian Pro Junior competitors, this year’s event illustrates the abundance of world-class talent within NSW.
One such talent was local boy Sam Schuman (Foster, NSW), who impressed the judges and crowd alike with critical manoeuvres and deep barrel rides.
Booking a birth in the second round, Schuman highlighted his intentions to fellow competitors using local knowledge to his advantage.
On hand to watch over the event at Boomerang Beach was former ASP World Tour surfer Michael Lowe; and he was impressed with what he saw.
“The standard of surfing on show today is outstanding,” Lowe said.
“It just goes to show how strong junior surfing is within NSW.”
With the scheduled running of the blue ribbon event, the under 18 girls, on the cards for tomorrow the scintillating action is sure to continue – which is to be followed by the under 16 girls division.
The Quiksilver State Titles will run through to 3 August 2008.
