Warner Boyz Event 1 - Press Release

I've recently become interested in event journalism, having been involved in the surf scene for a few years this piece came easily, keen for the challenge of reporting on a sport I'm not so familiar with.

Anyway it was a great event and I'm excited to be the man behind such a great surf club that will hopefully elevate the local level of surfing.

SURF SERIES IS OFF TO AN EPIC START

Enjoy!

The 2012 Warner Boyz Surf Series got off to a great start on the weekend, contestants were greeted with 2 – 3 foot bowly rights and lefts, with sunshine, crystal clear water and not a breath of wind.

With great waves on offer high scores were being dropped left right and center, Koby Oberholzer, Matt Sills, Sam Christianson, Slater Ruddling Landon Kruger , Michelle Imeson , Nicole Pallet, ChanelleBotha, Klee Strachan , Wade Botha and Gary Van Wieregen were all quick out the starting blocks with strong performances in the earlier rounds.

As the tide drained, the shallow banks made for some tricky waves and those who managed to find the waves that could connect from the outside to the inside managed to advance into the finals.

First up were the Groms, with a strong charge from the Durban groms Koby Oberholzer knew he had his work cut out for him, and rose to the challenge dropping some high scores to emerge victorious, the talented Durban duo of Matt Sills and Sam Christianson took out 3^nd and 3^rd with new comer Jethrow Gray reaching his first ever final to finish 4^th.

The u/20 boys were not to be out done with a nerve wrecking to and fro battle between Mikey Venter and Landon Kruger, Venter got one back on Kruger after Kruger sent Venter to the repo in round 1, and Venter walked away with the win, young Koby Oberholzer and Slater Ruddling finished up 3^rd and 4^th respectively.

When the ladies hit the water it was called the “Michelle and the young guns show” as the three younger girls managed to out class the field to book their place in the final, however Imeson’s experience over the years showed as she picked the beast waves and comfortable took the win over Durban’s Nicole Pallet with Courtenay Ellish taking 3^rd ahead of Chanelle Botha.

The open mens division was run with man on man heats, after 3 rounds of surfing Gary Van Wieregen and Mickey Venter finished off tie third after being eliminated in the semi finals.

The evergreen Klee Strachan used his smooth powerful surfing to rack up a series of nice scores which ultimately saw him rise above Wade Botha in an action packed final.

HUGE thanks go out to Rona from Baggies Kiosk, Karin Mason, Chris Clarke, and of course Clear Water Spur for once again supplying the lunch for the contestants which is always a high light at our events!

See you in June for the next event!

Wade Botha

Meet The Olympian - Tiffany Kruger

Two years back we ran an athlete profile on South African Canoeing super star Tiffany Kruger, as she was selected as part of the Olympic Training squad, with the possibility of qualifying for the 2012 London Olympic Games, well two years later at the age of 24, its official Tiffany will be heading over to London to compete in the ladies K1 200m Sprint Kayak race.

I managed to catch up with Tiff this is what she had to say.

Hi Tiffany

 First of all a huge congratulations on this amazing achievement. Going to compete at the Olympics has to be one of the biggest honours any sportsman/woman can achieve, and only a very small percentage of the population ever achieve it so I’m sure you’ve been on cloud 9 these past couple weeks.

Tiff: Thank you, I do believe that competing at the Olympic Games is any sportsman’s ultimate dream and it is a huge accomplishment! I am super excited to have qualified and I’m very happy that my hard work and dedication has eventually paid off.

So obviously to get to the level that you are at is no easy task, it takes many hours of training on and off the water and all round dedication. From the time you were selected for the squad, did you have to make any major lifestyle changes?

Tiff: The training of a top level athlete is not easy and it becomes your life. I have made many changes since I was selected for the squad; I have based myself mostly in PMB to train with my coach Attila Adrovicz on a daily basis which is essential at this level. At this level your life becomes a cycle of eat sleep and train.

And now that you are officially part of the South African Olympic Team, I can imagine the training load has increased significantly, run us through a day in the life of Tiffany Kruger?

Tiff: yes, the training load is as intense as ever, but if you want to be the best you have to do whatever it takes. My daily training schedule varies from day to day, but usually includes about 3 sessions alternating between paddling, running and gym. Physiotherapy is also important so that is also included in my training schedule.

The 200m sprint, is a high intensity flat out race, do you have a strategy that you use? Do you think it’s a good start or a big finishing kick which makes the difference?

Tiff: Every Athlete has a strategy and it is important to know your race. My strategy is to focus on my own race, and race  my race how I have trained. In the 200m race I believe that both the start and the finish are vitally important as it is a short explosive powerful race and is easily lost by one mistake be it in the start or the finish.

Pietermaritzburg seems to be the powerhouse of canoeing in KZN and even South Africa, do you feel as though you were at any disadvantage coming from a small town like Amanzimtoti? And do you think you had to work harder to gain the recognition that some of the other paddlers from the higher profile paddling communities got?

Tiff: Amanzimtoti has some extremely talented athletes and no one is disadvantaged coming from there, it just depends how badly you want something and how hard you are prepared to work for it. Of course in higher profile paddling communities it is easier in the sense that more is provided financially and it is easier for athletes to travel and gain experience, although I am not saying that coming from a small town it is impossible I am saying that it will make you a better athlete in the long run because you have worked harder to reach your goals, and you did so because you were so passionate about your sport that your love for it kept you going, and that is very important.

Finally what advice do you have for aspiring local sportsmen/women that want to get to the same level as yourself in their respective sporting codes?

Tiff: Love what you do and don’t do it for anyone else but for yourself.  Always push yourself as hard as you can and when you think you have pushed yourself to the limit push a little harder.

Thanks Tiff, good luck for the Olympics, you’ve come this far against all odds so there is nothing stopping you from bringing that Gold medal home!

Tiff: Thank you so much for this opportunity and I hope to do you all proud.

Xxx

To follows Tiffany’s journey to the London Olympic Games follower her on twitter @Tiffany_Kruger

Wade Botha 

Sport Scientist

Warner Beach Surf Series Set to Kick off this Sunday!

Sunday 13th May will see the first event of the 2012 Surf series kick off at Baggies Beach, at a time where the contest calendar is empty and the remaining events are few and far between, we thought it was ideal to introduce the new system, where unfortunatly each event will not carry prizes as in the previous seasons, the up side how ever is we can grow the series form just 3 events to 5 events giving the local surfers more events on which they can hone their competitve skills, the finalist of each event will recieve certificates and the valuable ratings points which will count towards the top 4 in each division who will recieve prize money and prizes at the season final, the anual Warner Beach Open. 

Heading into this event we will see Warner Beach's next generation take to the water in the grom division wher Koby Oberholzer and Slater Rudling will go head to head for the overall series win and the title rights and to be crowned the King of the groms at Warner Beach.

 Mikey Venter will be looking to collect his 4th consectutive series win in the u/20 Boys division but will have his work cut out for him with local up and comer Chad Coullie. The pressure will be on these boys with the entry of Sarah Baum into the boys division and a strong contingent from the far south. 

After having it her own way for the last 2 years Chanelle Botha will have to be on her toes if she wants to keep her Girls series title, with a strong feild of girls taking to the water this year, including WQS surfer Sarah Baum, long time locals Michelle Imeson and Nicole anells as well as close friend Courtenay Ellish. 

The see saw battle will continue in 2012 between Klee Strachan and Warner Beach stalwart Gary Van Wieregen, the u/20 boys who will be surfing up a division wont let them have it all their own way however. 

The stage has been set for the 2012 Warner Boyz Surf Series now all there is to do is watch it all unfold over the next couple events to who will be crowned the Champions in the respective divisions!