Buffalo City surfing stars Greg Emslie and Nikita Robb excelled at the recent South African Surfing Championships at Long Beach, Kommetjie in Cape Town.
The two were in sublime form as they dominated the men’s and women’s divisions respectively to be crowned champions.
Emslie and Robb are no strangers to being SA champs as they have both won the event multiple times. However, Emslie’s latest triumph sees him make a bit of history as the only surfer to secure five Open men’s titles, which is one more than the legendary Chris Knutsen.
“I am very happy to have won. I am a bit older but my surfing still feels good,” said Emslie.
“It was one of my goals to get ahead of Chris, who is an absolute legend, and I didn’t compete in the SA Champs for a number of years when I was on the international circuit, so it was very special to get this record and is a very nice record to have for now.”
Robb, however, was not to be outdone as she also secured her fifth women’s crown while also picking up the prestigious Surfer of the Contest award after a superb showing that saw her as the only surfer to score a perfect 10-point ride over the three days of competition.
“Things just seemed to be in my favour and went well during the champs,” said Robb, “but I was just happy to be there with all my friends from East London and taking part.”
In the overall stakes, however, hosts Cape Town Surfriders came out on top, winning the President’s Cup and keeping intact their impressive record of 100% wins at home.
Buffalo City Surfriders came second, while fellow Eastern Cape team, Nelson Mandela Bay Surfriders rounded out the top three.
“I think the team did extremely well. We came close to winning it and Western Province have never been beaten at home,” said Emslie.
“We had a lot of youngsters in the team who are quite inexperienced, so to finish second was really good and it was also a great experience for them.”
Although the team couldn’t finish first, the Buffalo City team did themselves proud putting in some top performances, with rising talent Danica Stockigt, Grade 11 Merrifield College pupil, finishing a very notable fourth in the women’s U20 division.
Stockigt has been in impressive form recently, making the finals of the Roxy JBay Junior Pro event and the Tigers Milk Classic, also held in Cape Town, where she surfed against a pro from Hawaii and three SA champs. Her fourth placed finish has now seen her gain even more valuable experience that should benefit her in the future.
In all, 100 surfers from eight districts and three provinces took part in the 51st SA surfing championships.
The Buffalo City team that took part was: Greg Emslie, Devyn Mattheys, Mitch Henderson, Bradley Dalbock (open men); Nikita Robb, Catherine Lee (open women); Luke Malherbe, Jordan Dalbock, Keagan Mitchell, Thomas Lindhorst (U20 boys); Danica Stockigt, Lauren Ridge (U20 girls).
Wavebusters ride that crest of wave – again
The two were in sublime form as they dominated the men’s and women’s divisions respectively to be crowned champions.
Emslie and Robb are no strangers to being SA champs as they have both won the event multiple times. However, Emslie’s latest triumph sees him make a bit of history as the only surfer to secure five Open men’s titles, which is one more than the legendary Chris Knutsen.
“I am very happy to have won. I am a bit older but my surfing still feels good,” said Emslie.
“It was one of my goals to get ahead of Chris, who is an absolute legend, and I didn’t compete in the SA Champs for a number of years when I was on the international circuit, so it was very special to get this record and is a very nice record to have for now.”
Robb, however, was not to be outdone as she also secured her fifth women’s crown while also picking up the prestigious Surfer of the Contest award after a superb showing that saw her as the only surfer to score a perfect 10-point ride over the three days of competition.
“Things just seemed to be in my favour and went well during the champs,” said Robb, “but I was just happy to be there with all my friends from East London and taking part.”
In the overall stakes, however, hosts Cape Town Surfriders came out on top, winning the President’s Cup and keeping intact their impressive record of 100% wins at home.
Buffalo City Surfriders came second, while fellow Eastern Cape team, Nelson Mandela Bay Surfriders rounded out the top three.
“I think the team did extremely well. We came close to winning it and Western Province have never been beaten at home,” said Emslie.
“We had a lot of youngsters in the team who are quite inexperienced, so to finish second was really good and it was also a great experience for them.”
Although the team couldn’t finish first, the Buffalo City team did themselves proud putting in some top performances, with rising talent Danica Stockigt, Grade 11 Merrifield College pupil, finishing a very notable fourth in the women’s U20 division.
Stockigt has been in impressive form recently, making the finals of the Roxy JBay Junior Pro event and the Tigers Milk Classic, also held in Cape Town, where she surfed against a pro from Hawaii and three SA champs. Her fourth placed finish has now seen her gain even more valuable experience that should benefit her in the future.
In all, 100 surfers from eight districts and three provinces took part in the 51st SA surfing championships.
The Buffalo City team that took part was: Greg Emslie, Devyn Mattheys, Mitch Henderson, Bradley Dalbock (open men); Nikita Robb, Catherine Lee (open women); Luke Malherbe, Jordan Dalbock, Keagan Mitchell, Thomas Lindhorst (U20 boys); Danica Stockigt, Lauren Ridge (U20 girls).
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