CAPTION: Six young South African surfers were rewarded for their achievements in 2017 when they received Sea Harvest Surfing Excellence Awards at a ceremony held at the company’s head office in Woodstock recently. The Sea Harvest Surfing Excellence Awards programme was part of the 2017 Sea Harvest sponsorship deal signed with Surfing South Africa. Pictured above from left to right: (back) Angelo Faulkner of Pellsrus near Jeffrey’s Bay, Caitlin October of Noordhoek, Paul Sampson – Chudleigh of Strandfontein, S’nenhlanhla Makhubu of Chesterville in Durban, (front). Brandon Benjamin South African Surfing Champion and National Team member, Zia Hendricks and Dellin Hendricks also from Pellsrus.
S’nenhlanhla Makhubu produced some excellent results on the 2017 SA Surf Tour that saw her qualify for the South African Junior Team, which participated in the ISA World Championships in Japan. On her return from Japan she travelled straight to Jeffreys Bay where she represented eThekweni at the South African Championships, finishing second in the Final. S’nehlanhla’s goals this year are to earn her national colours once again and to win the U16 Division at the South African Junior Championships.
Caitlin October’s first contest was the SA Grommet Games as a 10 year old. Since then she has represented Western Province (WP) at the SA Junior Championships a number of times and won numerous events at age group level. She plans to compete in several World Surf League (WSL) events this year and will also be completing an ISA Coaching Course.
Twelve year old Zia Hendricks earned recognition for reaching the Finals in the U12 Division at both the SA Grommet Games and the SA Junior Championships. In addition, she was the top ranked surfer in the U12 Girls Division on the SA Surf Tour. She wants to retain her SA Surf Tour U12 tile this year and win the U12 Division at the SA Junior Championships.
In 2017, Dellin Hendricks qualified as a member of the South African Junior Team that competed in the ISA World Championships in China. He also won an U16 title at a SA Surf Tour event in Cape Town and represented the Nelson Mandela Bay District at the SA Junior Championships in Jeffreys Bay. His goal is to earn his SA and NMB colours this year and make his mark in the U18 Division of the WSL.
Paul Sampson-Chudleigh is a talented shortboard and longboard surfer and in 2017 became the WP Longboard Champion in the Junior Division. He represented WP at the SA Longboard Championships and reached the Final of the Tigers Milk Winter Classic in Muizenberg. He also competed in a number of WSL events and represented the Sea Harvest Development Academy Team at the SA Junior Championships in Jeffreys Bay. Sampson-Chudleigh’s goals in 2018 are to win a WP and SA Longboard title in his division and compete in the WSL events that are taking place in South Africa this year.
Angelo Faulkner won his National colours in 2016 but narrowly missed selection in 2017. This did not deter the talented young man from achieving some top class domestic results. He was the runner up on the SA Surf Tour rankings in 2017, won a Sea Harvest Junior event and reached three SAST U16 Finals and the Final of the U16 Division at the SA Junior Surfing Championships. His 2018 goals are to finish in the top three in the U18 Division of the SA Surf Tour and to reach the U18 Final at the SA Junior Championships. He is determined to win his National Colours again.
“With the Award comes a sponsorship of R10 000 each, which the surfers will be able to use to cover travel and transport costs to surfing contests around South Africa during 2018,” said Sea Harvest Brand Manager, Nazli Philander
Surfing South Africa Deputy President, Bruce Anderson; 2017 South African Surfing Champion and National Team member, Brandon Benjamin; and Surfing South Africa staff also attended the award ceremony. Surfing South Africa is the recognized governing body for surfing and is a member of the South African Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee (SASCOC) and the International Surfing Association (ISA).