Junior Competitors Put On A Show At Bells Beach (Djarrak) For Day 1 Of Round 2 Of The 2023 Woolworths Victorian Junior Surfing Titles

The second round of the 2023 Woolworths Victorian Junior Surfing Titles went ahead at Rincon, Bells Beach with some huge performances being put down in both the boy’s and girl’s divisions. 

The competition started at 7:00 am to capitalise on the early high tide that suited Rincon’s long running faces. With 2-3 foot lines coming into the point and clean offshore winds, the judges were looking for strong, high hitting snaps and for the competitors to be attacking the most critical part of the long waves on offer.

In the Under 18 Boys Lucas Hickson’s (Rye) huge power slides and progressive maneuvers best suited the extended running rights as he cruised through his heat with an 8 point ride (out of a possible 10) in his score line. Hickson then blew his board’s tail out the back of another wave multiple times to gather a 7.53 point ride as his backup. 

“It was way better having the comp at a long running wave that allowed you to get some fun ones with heaps of turns,” Hickson said.

“I also had heaps of fun surfing with my mates out there,” he added.

Hickson secured his place in the Quarterfinals with one of the highest combined heat totals of the day, 15.53 points (out of a possible 20), due to his explosive surfing out of the lip.

Another stand out that progressed his way to the Under 18 Boys Quarterfinals was Remy Roberts (Barwon Heads) whose backhand attack lit up Rincon. Roberts used his backhand approach to hit the critical sections in a way the forehand surfers were not able to. This allowed him to create a point of difference in his surfing and ended up earning him an 8.50 point ride. 

As the day progressed the waves slowed down with the outgoing tide, however there were still good waves to be picked out amongst the lineup. 

Sara Hickson (Rye) was able to follow through with her brother’s good wave selection in the Under 16 Girls division. She won her heat by deciding to sit further down the peak where no one had surfed yet and better waves had formed with the new tide. 

This gave Hickson the opportunity to find the critical sections that weren’t available up the point. She took advantage of the steeper waves she found there to execute a series of high-hitting snaps to secure a pair of 6.43 point rides and a combined heat total of 12.86 points. 

“I saw a couple of waves on the inside of the point that looked like they had potential, so I thought that would be my best opportunity at getting some good scores,” Hickson said 

“It was fun to try something different and surf out at Bells, it had more steep walls that made it better to turn on,” she continued.

After seeing Hickson’s wave selection pay off, Sophie Wilkinson (Shoreham) positioned herself in the same spot to get her a wave that allowed for multiple critical top turns. The judges awarded Wilkinson with the highest score of the Under 16 Girls, a 7-point ride and a spot in the Semifinals. 

Live Scores and Schedule can be accessed via www.surfingvic.com/live

The call for day 2 of the event will be at 6.45am for a 7.00am start at Bells Beach on Sunday.

2023 Woolworths Victorian Junior Surfing Titles

Round 1 (Complete)
Phillip Island
Feb 4 and 5, 2023

Round 2
Bells Beach
Feb 18 and 19, 2023

Round 3
Mornington Peninsula
March 25 and 26, 2023

Divisions:
Under 18 Girls
Under 18 Boys
Under 16 Girls
Under 16 Boys
Under 14 Girls
Under 14 Boys

The Woolworths Victorian Junior Surfing Titles is supported by QUIT Victoria, VicRoads Community Safety Grants, Cancer Council Sunscreen and Surfing Victoria.