It was a weekend of bombing waves and great surf as groms battled it in the Woolworths Surfer Groms Comp.
Groms from across the state came down to Torquay Point on October 14 and 15 for the nationwide series and took on the challenge of three- to four-foot-tall waves with great courage.
The Woolworths Surfer Groms Comp features a broad range of divisions for boys and girls with the Under 8s, Under 10s, Under 12s, and Under 14s categories.
Torquay’s Cobie O’Day outshone the competition in the Under 10 Girls for her remarkable talent, skills, determination, and unwavering commitment.
Cobie found the right wave halfway through the first final, which, with her fast-carving manoeuvres, slid her into first place on the leaderboard with the 8.43 out of 10-point ride.
She also secured the win in the second final with a 9.50-point ride, followed by Rye’s Edie Wouters in second place, Jan Juc’s Olive Robertson in third and Rye’s Rem Jennings in fourth.
“It feels good to win and everyone did well as it was really hard out there,” Cobie said.
“It was heaps of fun surfing with all the girls and they did so well.”
The competition was close in the Under 12 Girls final, with all competitors scoring an early mid-range ride until Cape Woolamai’s Scarlett Rennie catapulted her way to the front with a 9.33-point ride.
Jan Juc’s Estella Carbonelli came in second, with Torquay’s Stevie O’Day and Mornington Peninsula’s Harper Browne placed third and fourth.
“I had a talk to my dad, and he said to go for the big sets as big waves equal big scores and yeah it worked out pretty well,” Scarlett said.
After taking out the Under 12 Girls final win, Scarlett went on to take out her second final win in the Under 14 Girls final with a combined wave total of 12.84 points out of 20.
“It was so good surfing with all the girls, and it was really fun,” she said.
“I’ve been working hard for the last couple of weeks so I’m very stoked to get both wins.”
Scarlett was awarded an invite to the Woolworths Surfer Grom Comps National Final Surfer Camp at the Surfing Australia High Performance Centre thanks to her Under 14 Girls win.
Harlem Pec displayed great surfing during the Under 12 Boys and snagged a bomb on his first ride, where he put together a variety of carves all the way to the inside, where he blitzed the end section.
The ride scored him 8.17 points, and with another 8.67-point ride, Harlem secured the final win with a 16.84 combined heat total.
“I was super nervous going into it but it was so sick in the end,” he said.
“It feels so good to take it out ’cause I’ve never won a Woolies comp, I’m just so psyched,” said Pec.
The Under 12 Boys competition also saw Inverloch’s Dusty Rayner come second, with Torquay’s Teddy Roberston and Shoreham’s Fredrick Merrison ranking third and fourth.
