Ballina Information Blog

Lennox Head surfer Stuart Kennedy has qualified for the Rip Curl GromSearch International final which will run as a specialty event around the Rip Curl Pro World Champion Tour event at Bells Beach, which officially begins today, with a waiting period extending to April 21.

Kennedy joins Owen Wright (Culburra/South Coast NSW),  Sally Fitzgibbon (Gerroa/South Coast NSW) and Laura Enever (Narrabeen) as Australia’s representatives in the Rip Curl GromSearch International final.

Kennedy, Fitzgibbon and Enever had to earn their positions in the international final through the national final of the Rip Curl GromSearch which ran in good waves at Bells Beach this week.

Surfing Australia’s media unit says Kennedy is the sole Australian representative in the 16 and under boys division. He won a nail-biting final by securing a great final ride which scored an 8.5 to take him into first place ahead of young Narrabeen surfer Davey Cathels, who had led for almost the entire final only to lose out in that final minute.

Delighted to win, Kennedy said: “This is the biggest win of my career and to now surf in an international final at Bells beach during a World Championship event is just amazing. I knew I was a chance if I could get a good wave but with two minutes to go I didn’t think there would be another good wave.

“That wave appeared, I had to fight to get it  but it turned into a great score and now I’m here at Bells for all of Easter — I had a flight booked to come home tomorrow but I’ll change that!” 

In the girls final Sally Fitzgibbon again enhanced her already big reputation by taking control early with some strong 7 point rides and was never seriously challlenged.

The Rip Curl Pro draws bigger crowds than any event in the world with up to 10 000 people lining the cliffs of surfing’s greatest natural ampitheatre and with outstanding waves forecast leading into and through the  Easter weekend, The Rip Curl GromSearch International final is certain to be a highlight for these young surfers.

The quality of the Rip Curl GromSearch International final is exceptional with represntatives from USA, Brazil, New Zealand, South Africa, Europe  and Indonesia.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, April 11th, 2006 at 11:24 am and is filed under Ballina, Lennox Head, News, Sport. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.