40 children will learn to ride waves in the South African Bodyboarding Championships
Flowers are not the only thing worth driving up the West Coast to see in the coming week. The annual South African Bodyboarding Championships hosted by Reef Wetsuits will be taking place in the Lamberts Bay area on the Cape’s West Coast from 27th September – 2nd October 2009. This year’s SA Champs has changed in format from previous years. In the past, the hosting province decided at which beach the competition would be run, and the duration of that event would be dedicated to only that beach. This year, Boland Bodyboarding Association, the host, has worked with the Cederberg Municipality to ensure that they have a “roaming venue”. This means that not only one beach has to be used but if conditions are better suited for another surf break, the whole contest can be moved to that beach and contested there. What this also means, is that no one rider, getting accustomed to the surf spot and conditions, gets a “growing” advantage during the competition. This allows for fair competition amongst the riders. Exciting competitors to look out for from the 6 competing provinces, are Vaughn Harris from Boland, defending junior champ, David Lilienfield, Sacha Specker and Daniel Worsley from Western Province, Derek Footit and David Lee from Southern Natal, Charles Pass from Central Natal and World Tour campaigner and wildcard entry Mark McCarthy from Northern Natal. One of the most exciting and promising projects to come out of this year’s SA Champs is the inclusion of KUMBA IRON ORE and the development clinic they are running with the help of all the provincial teams. Kumba Iron Ore and Boland Bodyboarding Association have made it possible for 80 local children in the Lamberts Bay area to learn the sport of Bodyboarding along with water safety. Kumba Iron Ore has generously donated bodyboarding gear to all the children who attend the once -in -a -lifetime clinic with some of South Africa’s best bodyboarders. The handover will take place on Lamberts Bay beach on Monday the 28th at 15:00. To follow the progress of the event day by day, go to www.sixty40.co.za |