MEDIA RELEASE : 23 May 2008

Seignosse, France – The 2008 Quiksilver ISA World Junior Surfing Championships is set to commence on Saturday May 24, and South Africa have a strong representation in this prestigious event. Surfers from all over the world have converged on the beachside town of Seignosse in the south of France to compete for honours in the U18 Boys, U18 Girls and the U16 Boys divisions.

The South African team has been hard at work training for the event, and comprises a number of surfers who could easily take a title. Although the event is a National Team event, surfers will still be going for broke in a bid for individual titles.

With the likes of Matthew Bromley (team captain) from Durban, Shaun Joubert (vice captain) from Mossel Bay, Chad du Toit (Durban) and Nicky Godfrey (St Francis) making up the U18 division, there are sure to be finalists and winners emerging from the selection.

The U18 girls are a combination of experienced surfers and rookies, with Tarryn Chudleigh (WP) and Chantelle Rautenbach (Boland) being the surfers with the most experience out of the girls, while Bianca Buitendag (George) and Sarah Baum (KZN) make their respective debuts.

The are going to be sparks flying when the South African U16 surfers hit the water. Dynamic and explosive surfers Mikey February (WP), Davey Brand (WP), Dane Staples (St. Francis) and Beyrick De Vries from New Pier in Durban make up the U16 contingent and all are capable of turning heads, winning events, and bringing home the silverware. These four surfers are going to be part of the future of surfing in South Africa, and this event will be a bench-mark in their careers. They are all extremely motivated and competitive surfers, and will all be pushing hard to show what they are capable of doing in the water.

The event has a mini-site, brought to you by Quiksilver and ISA: http://www.isaworldchamp.com
This event website has everything on it, including the team lists, live results, a gallery of event images and the day-to-day schedule. On top of this there will be live webcasting from this site with informed commentators giving viewers blow-by-blow accounts of the heats and of scores needed and final heat scores and results.

So if you want to watch your favourite South African junior surfers blitzing in France at the Quiksilver ISA World Junior Surfing Championships then log onto the website and find the links for the live webcasting. You can also cheer the South African team on by sending the commentators good-luck messages to our surfers.

Media releases with a focus on the South African team's performance will be distributed daily and these releases plus photos of the SA Team will be available on www.surfingsouthafrica.co.za
For more information on the South African Junior Surfing Team, contact Robin de Kock of Surfing South Africa on +27 21 674 2972 or +27 82 454 1149 or via email surfingsouthafrica@gmail.com

Disclaimer
The Quiksilver Goodwave is an invitational surfing contest and participation is by invitation only. Contestants are selected by Quiksilver in its entire discretion and Quiksilver's decision shall be final. All of Quiksilver's rights are reserved.

For more information contact:
Dane Patterson
Quiksilver Marketing Manager
Cell: +27 82 444 5333
Tel:  +27 31 313 1465
Fax: +27 31 313 1436
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