The 2019 Australian Junior Surfing Titles concluded last Friday in Margaret River, with the biggest junior surfing tournament in the country completed after six amazing days of competition. Six new individual Australian Champions crowned alongside eight School Surfing division winners.
On a magic day of pumping waves and big performances it was WA's Coral Durant and Jamie Thomson (NSW) who came out on top in the blue-ribbon Under 18 division finals in what can only be described as epic conditions.
Durrant, one of the form surfers during the week of competition, went toe-to-toe with Yallingup's Emma Cattlin in the U18 Girl's final, the goofy versus natural foot battle being one for the ages. Durrant's rock-solid powerful backhand attack on the right-handers proved too strong (13.50 points to 11.35 points) for her fellow competitors at a wave she clearly knows well. Jamie Thomson was on fire in the semi-finals with another big 17.50 point heat total and carried that form through to the final where he narrowly beat Victorian Xavier Huxtable (15.85 points to 14.90 points) in 3-4ft offshore right-handers while WA's Finn Cox was gallant on home soil but finished in fourth on 13.30 behind NSW Mike Clayton-Brown.
Champions were also crowned in All Star and Mark Richards Shield Schools divisions, with Margaret River Senior High School dominating taking two MR Shield wins and placing in multiple finals. Brothers Ben and Jed Gradisen took out a hotly contested Under 19 Boys MR Shield final scoring 18.40 (from a possible 20), while Zali Hewson and Willow Hardy were crowned Under 16 Girls MR Shield champions with a heat score total of 15.75 (from a possible 20).
Forecast: Thursday will have offshore E winds and a fun 1.5m swell. Friday will have NE winds and a 1.2m swell. The weekend brings light winds and a bigger 1.7m swell, while Sunday will drop off to 1.4m.
