Kiwi Campaign Underway – Led By Strong Performance from Raglan Surfer

The
New
Zealand
Junior
Surfing
Team
are
two
days
deep
into
their
ten-day
campaign
at
the
World
Junior
Surfing
Championship
in
El
Salvador
with
the
Central
American
nation
turning
on
the
waves
and
conditions
for
another
edition
of
the
event.

Eight
of
the
twelve
Kiwi
team
members
have
been
in
action
to
date
with
Raglan
surfer
and
first-time
participant
Van
Camenzind
opening
his
campaign
with
a
comfortable
win
in
the
Under
18
Boys
Division.

Surfing
to
a
13.0
point
heat
total,
Camenzind
relished
the
chance
to
surf
some
chunky
waves
in
the
1.5m
–
2.0
range
at
the
La
Bocana
arena.

“I
felt
at
home
on
the
lefts
and
stuck
to
my
heat
strategy,”
said
Camenzind.

“I’ve
noticed
the
level
of
surfing
is
a
massive
step
up
from
back
home,
I’ve
also
noticed
and
felt
the
nerves
you
have
to
deal
with
when
surfing
your
heats
over
here
too
but
the
waves
are
pumping
and
conditions
look
mint
for
the
next
few
days,
so
I
am
pumped
for
the
next
rounds,”
he
added.

Camenzind
was
joined
by
Alexis
Owen
(Dun)
advancing
out
of
the
first
round
on
the
opening
day
of
the
event.
Teammate
Sev
Tolhurst
(Piha)
succumbed
to
the
nonstop
set
waves
and
fell
short
of
progression
with
just
the
one
decent
scoring
ride.
Tolhurst
will
contest
the
repechage
round
where
he
will
aim
to
join
back
up
with
his
teammates,
the
event
this
year
being
straight
knock
out
from
Round
2.

In
her
third
international
campaign,
Poppy
Arkle
(Piha)
dealt
with
early
nerves
to
advance
in
a
low
scoring
but
comfortable
heat
in
the
Under
18
Girls
Division.

“I
was
super
nervous
going
into
my
heat,
there’s
never
a
heat
where
I’m
not
nervous
because
I
put
so
much
pressure
on
myself,”
said
Arkle.

“It
was
quite
tricky
because
my
whole
heat
had
so
many
sets,
but
the
start
of
this
campaign
has
gone
smoothly.
The
whole
team
has
been
lovely,
and
we’re
having
a
great
time
over
here”.

“This
year,
there’s
only
one
repechage
round,
so
that
means
my
next
round
is
my
last
one
if
I
get
knocked
out.
That
doesn’t
change
my
mindset
though.
I
always
want
to
win,
I
always
want
to
get
through,
and
yeah,
this
comp
is
going
to
be
a
good
one.
I
can
feel
it,”
added
Arkle.

Jesse
Frazerhurst
(Auck)
got
the
Under
16
Boys
members
off
to
a
good
start
with
a
heat
win
while
his
two
counterparts
will
have
to
wait
until
Day
3
to
open
their
campaign.

Frazerhurst
surfed
to
a
10.0
point
heat
total
for
the
win
despite
getting
a
slow
start.

“I
got
smoked
by
a
big
set
at
the
start
putting
me
out
of
position
so
surfed
an
11-minute
heat.
The
plan
was
to
find
the
runners
with
wall
and
surf
solid,
and
I
got
there
in
the
end,”
said
Frazerhurst
who
is
a
first-time
team
member.

“The
experience
has
been
amazing,
spirits
are
high,
looking
forward
to
the
upcoming
days,”
he
added.

Zara
Owen
(Dun),
Alani
Morse
(Rag)
and
Lola
Groube
(Pau)
all
advanced
out
of
the
first
round
of
the
Under
16
Girls
Division
and
will
have
a
day
off
before
their
next
round.

The
team’s
youngest
member,
Dunedin’s
13-year-old
battled
the
nerves
surfing
in
front
of
all
the
teams
and
spectators
and
she
felt
that
came
through
in
her
surfing
despite
progressing
through
her
heat
at
roughly
the
same
time
as
her
brother
Alexis
on
the
other
podium.

“I
can’t
wait
for
him
to
be
with
me
for
my
next
heat”
said
the
youngster.

The
2026
edition
of
the
event
comprises
474
surfers
from
56
countries
across
the
four
divisions.

El
Salvador
is
no
stranger
to
the
event
having
hosted
the
World
Junior
Championships
on
several
occasions
before
it
skipped
down
to
Peru
for
the
2025
edition
at
which
the
team
placed
tenth
overall.
El
Salvador
will
also
be
the
venue
for
the
first
major
Olympic
qualification
opportunity
for
our
top
surfers
in
May
next
year.

Full
results
can
be
viewed
on
the

ISA
website
here.

Day
3
Schedule
(Tuesday
8^th
September
NZT)

Tower
1
(La
Bocana)
–
Full
broadcast

Under
18
Girls
Round
1

3:20am
–
Heat
26
–

Poppy
Entwisle
(NZL),
Zoe
Ruiz
((CRC),
Aneta
Kucharska
(POL),
Darlyn
Ramirez
(GUA)

4:40am
–
Heat
30
–

Kyra
Wallis
(NZL),
Rirava
Clark
(TAH),
Kaja
Przeciechowska
(POL),
Jirapat
Chulaskontha
(THA)

Tower
2
(El
Sunzal)
–
Single
camera
broadcast

Under
16
Boys
Round
1

2:00am
–
Heat
26
–

Sol
Fritchley
(NZL),
Amets
Garai
(CRC),
Dario
Vargas
Stenberg
(SWE),
Jhoifre
Vargas
(VEN)

3:20am
–
Heat
30
–

Zeke
Pragert
(NZL),
Tauirai
Henriou
Oopa
(TAH),
Noah
Melger
(SWE),
Pakal
Poo
(Mex)

Under
18
Boys
Repechage
Round
1

8:20am
–
Heat
13
–
Emerson
Martinez
(ESA),
Sebastian
Ambler
(LCA),

Sev
Tolhurst
(NZL),
Oscar
Hernandez
(COL)

**Potentially
more
heats
to
be
added
subject
to
progressions.

About
International
Surfing
Association
(ISA)
The

International
Surfing
Association
(ISA)
is
recognised
by
the
International
Olympic
Committee
(IOC)
as
the
World
Governing
Authority
for
surfing,
bodyboarding,
SUP
and
surfing.
It
was
originally
founded
as
the
International
Surfing
Federation
in
1964
and
has been
running
world
championships
since
1964,
and
the
Junior
World
Championships
since
1980.

Further
Information
For
further
information
on
the
New
Zealand
Junior
Surfing
Team
please
contact
Surfing
New
Zealand’s
Ben
Kennings
on
021
2278732
or
email

benkennings@surfingnz.co.nz.