Two young local surfers represented the region with distinction on the final day of the national Gromsearch competition at Jan Juc last Sunday (September 17).
On a day where double overhead waves were a common sight, Torquay’s Stevie O’Day and Jan Juc’s Estella Carbonelli competed in the under 12 girls event final, two of only four Victorian competitors across all categories on the day.
Stevie, who was ultimately awarded the Girls Outstanding Performer award for the day, came second in the final, trailing Cape Woolama’s Scarlett Rennie’s winning score of 11.83 with 10.40 points.
After her first two waves Stevie was comfortably leading the four-person final, but Scarlett overtook her with a big score of 8.33 on her fifth and final ride of the day.
Estella posted a score of 11.94 in the first heat and qualified just behind Stevie in the quarterfinal, eventually finishing fourth in the final.
Stevie, who has spent most of her life in the water but only took up surfing early this year, said she had an “awesome” experience in her first competition and in particular the final.
“I was a bit nervous when I saw the waves and how big they were before I went out,” she said.
“I had to walk over to Bird Rock, there was a rip there, because it was a bit hard to paddle out straight in front. But then the heat started and I just had so much fun.”
