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Quiksilver King Of The Groms – The Peninsula Gets Ready For Royalty.

2008 junior series

Media Release: 7 March 2008

This weekend sees the first event in the Quiksilver King Of The Groms series take place in Cape Town. The venue for this event is going to be in the Kommetjie area, and the swell forecast looks promising for the southern peninsula waves. This event has a prize pool of R22,000, which includes R5000 for first in the U20 division and R3500 for first in the Grom division. There is also going to be the Virgin Mobile Expression Session with two prizes up for grabs - an MP3 player as well as a R1000 prize.

The winner of the series in the U20 division wins a return trip to Hawaii, while the winner of the series in the premier U16 Grom division wins an all expenses paid trip to the King Of The Groms grand final in France along with his coach. Looking strong in the premier Grom division is white-hot Umhlanga surfer Beyrick De Vries, who most definitely has his sights set on wearing the crown this year.

He is going to be chased hard by the likes of his Umhlanga mate Devin Lane and Jacob Mellish from Somerset West. Kommetjie local Mickey February is always a threat at his home break along with another Kommetjie surfer Davey Brand. JC Susan, haling from Melkbosstrand, could also claim a victory in the event, so right now the division is wide open. In the U20 division Klee Strachan from Warner Beach is a top contender, but we will be up against the likes of Nicholas Godfrey from Cape St. Francis.

Godfrey scored the double at the King Of The Groms event in Mossel Bay last year, convincingly winning the U16 Grom division, as well as the U20 division. Casey Grant from Scottburgh is another surfer who could get a great result, as well as the two Durban surfers Shawn Dennis and Chad Du Toit. Former King Of The Groms champions Matt Bromley will also be competing in the U20 division at his home break, and last year's King Dale Staples will also be competing in the senior division. As well as the King Of The Groms event, the peninsula is also going to be bombarded by thousands upon thousands of cyclists as it is the Cape Argus Cycle Tour on Sunday.

As the venue for the surf event is going to be in the Kommetjie locale, surfers who get through to the second day of competition are advised to stay over in Kommetjie Saturday night, or to make their way to Kommetjie before the road closures early Sunday morning. The forecast does look fairly favourable for Long Beach at this stage, but the decision for a venue will be made each day of competition.

Phone 021-6742972 after 07h30 in the morning to find out the venue. Surfing South Africa sanctions the Quiksilver King Of The Groms, and the U20 division is part of the South African Pro Surf Tour. The events are going to be covered on Boardriders TV, which is set for extensive broadcast time on Supersport.

For more info contact:

Dane Patterson
Quiksilver Marketing Manager
Cell: +27 824445333
Tel: +27 31 3131465
Fax: +27 31 3131 436
4th Floor, San Angelo Building,
218 Stamfordhill Rd, Durban, SA
Email: dane.patto@quiksilver.co.za

Craig Jarvis
Media Liaison
Quiksilver South Africa
082 376 4443
media@quiksilver.co.za