The first group of “Ambassadors of Aloha” that I wrote about back in 2010 featured a large group of Kauai competitors who had just returned from New Zealand after taking a second straight silver medal at the International Surfing Association
The first group of “Ambassadors of Aloha” that I wrote about back in 2010 featured a large group of Kauai competitors who had just returned from New Zealand after taking a second straight silver medal at the International Surfing Association World Junior Surfing Championships. They were certainly one of the most talented junior Team Hawaii groups I have seen, considering the success that has since followed them on the Qualifying Series and World Championship Tours.
Of that year’s 12 team members, five of them – Leila Hurst, Kaimaina Jaquias, Malia Manuel, Nage Melamed and Koa Smith – were from Kauai. Smith had the best finish of the group, taking the bronze medal in the Boys Under 16 division. Current world tour competitor Alessa Quizon grabbed the silver in the Girls Under 18, finishing just behind Australia’s Tyler Wright, last year’s world tour runner-up. Other medalists that year included Brazilian powerhouse Gabriel Medina and American phenom Lakey Peterson.
The 2014 ISA World Junior Championship got underway this weekend in Salinas, Ecuador. While it’s a strong Team Hawaii crew back in action, just one of the active competitors this year is from Kauai. Princeville’s Tatiana Weston-Webb is the lone Garden Isle participant, back to defend her gold medal she won at last year’s contest in Playa Jiquiliste, Nicaragua. Weston-Webb has become a force in any competition she has entered in the past few years and came up just shy of qualifying for this season’s world tour. She will no doubt make that Top 17 in the near future, but for now, “Tati” remains the wahine to beat at the junior level.
Both Maluhia and Mainei Kinimaka of Anahola are members of the junior Team Hawaii, but neither are active competitors at the current ISA event.
Ecuador is five hours ahead of Hawaii time, so at the end of Tuesday, both Tati and teammate Bailey Nagy were still yet to lose a heat after two rounds of qualifying action in the Girls Under 18 division. The contest is double-elimination, so failing to take first or second in a four-surfer heat moves the competitor into the Repercharge bracket. A loss there eliminates the junior from the event.
Tati and Nagy will both be in the same heat as just 12 girls remain unbeaten in the Girls Under 18 division. The Girls Under 16 division features the lethal combination of Oahu’s Mahina Maeda and Dax McGill, who are each also unblemished into the third round. McGill already won the ISA Junior gold medal at just the age of 14 and Maeda is the defending Girls Under 16 gold medalist as she and Tati swept the girls golds in 2013.
The boys divisions feature four surfers from each team. Team Hawaii’s Under 18 contingent consists of Seth Moniz, Imai Devault, Ulu Napeahi and defending ISA Junior gold medalist Josh Moniz. The Boys Under 16 team features Kaulana Apo, Barron Mamiya, Noa Mizuno and Cody Young.
If Hawaii is to continue its team success on the podium, having won the silver last year and gold in 2012, the fresh faces on the boys side will have to make some deep runs to keep up with the anticipated success the girls should provide. To stay up to date with this year’s Ambassadors of Aloha, see www.isawjsc.com for live action and results.
• ‘My Thoughts Exactly’ appears Sundays, Wednesdays and Fridays in The Garden Island. Email David Simon your comments or questions to dsimon@thegardenisland.com. Follow David on Twitter @SimonTGI
