Bellarine surfers help Vic to third place

St Ignatius College’s Jack and Max Bassett. (Facebook)

Point Lonsdale’s Jay Phipps has helped Victoria finish in third place overall at the Woolworths Australian Junior Surfing Titles at North Stradbroke Island over the weekend.

The seven-day event is held each year bringing together the top surfers from across the country to compete in individual, team and schools divisions.

Although there were no individual Australian Titles won by Victorians in 2022, the Victorian team walked away from the event with a win in the Teams division.

Phipps finished equal fifth in the Under 16 Men division.

St Ignatius College’s Jack and Max Bassett were successful in making the final of the Australian Junior Surfing Titles Schools Division. The surfing duo finished fourth in the U19 MR Shield Pairs division, with Max also making the final in the U16 Allstars division.

“It was certainly refreshing to be back in the mix with Australia’s best junior surfers after an interrupted few years” Surfing Victoria High Performance Coaching Director Cahill Bell-Warren said.

“Our overall third position in the State Championship is a fair summary of our performances throughout the week.

“We were challenged from pillar to post with weather and waves, I’m really proud of the way the team unit stuck together and supported each other without fail.

“On paper we are certainly capable of more and are already planning our assault on next year’s Australian Junior Titles.”

In the MR Shield schools divisions Surf Coast Secondary College placed second in the Under 19 Girls, Dromana College finished second in the Under 16 Girls and St Ignatius College Bellarine finished fourth in the Under 19 Boys.