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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Friday, April 28, 2006

Youths going long way to defend title

 •  Organized walks bring friendships, exercise

By Dayton Morinaga
Advertiser Staff Writer

The feeling of winning a surfing world championship might be priceless, but getting there is costly.

A group of youth surfers from Hawai'i will go a long way — financially and logistically — to defend their world championship.

Hawai'i will be one of 28 teams participating in the Quiksilver ISA World Junior Surfing Championships. The contest will run May 6 to 14 at Maresias Beach, Sao Paulo, Brazil.

"Putting together a production of this size to go as far as Brazil is quite a task," Hawai'i coach Rainos Hayes said. "But we're the defending champs, and we'll do what it takes to go there and defend the title."

Hawai'i won the team title at last year's world junior championships at Huntington Beach, Calif.

The event, which is held at a different site every year, is considered the world championship for surfers age 18 and younger.

Because of Hawai'i's storied history in the sport of surfing, it is recognized as its own nation. The United States will send a separate team to the contest.

"There's definitely more pressure on us this time," Hayes said. "One of the factors is that we are the defending champs. A second factor is that Brazil is so far away and we'll be competing in conditions that we're not used to seeing."

Brazil placed second to Hawai'i at last year's contest. "I would peg Brazil as the team to beat this year," Hayes said. "They are the home team and it's a country that is very supportive of their sports."

Australia, the United States, South Africa and New Zealand are the other top contenders.

Each team will feature 12 surfers — four each in three separate age divisions.

The Hawai'i surfers on this year's team are:

  • Under 18 boys — Casey Brown, Torrey Meister, Kyle Ramey and Nathan Rex.

  • Under 16 boys — Granger Larsen, Dylan Melamed, Tyler Newton and Alex Smith.

  • Under 18 girls — Monica Byrne-Wickey, Bethany Hamilton, Lani Hunter and Lipoa Kahaleuahi.

    The team was selected through a qualifying contest four months ago.

    Hayes said it will cost each surfer between $3,000 and $4,000 to compete in the world junior championship.

    A fundraising "send-off party" for the Hawai'i surfers will be held Sunday at Brew Moon in the Local Motion Waikiki store. Entry fee is $15.

    It is scheduled to start at 4 p.m., and will include entertainment by Kapena and other music groups.

    There will also be a live auction and raffle drawing for various surf-related items. For information visit www.hasasurf.org.

    BLANCHARD WINS

    Kaua'i's Alana Blanchard won the girls division of the International Grom Search Final last week at Bells Beach, Australia.

    Blanchard scored a near-perfect 9.95 in the final to beat France's Alizee Arnaud.

    The contest featured top surfers from around the world age 16 and younger.

    Reach Dayton Morinaga at dmorinaga@honoluluadvertiser.com.