Billabong World Juniors: Ready, Set Go!

Words and photos: Sean Radich

Video: Sam Norwood

Garrett Parkes is now the highest ranked Aussie in the Billabong World Junior Championship main draw. Take a look at his form going in to the deciding Junior World Tour contest and hear about how he's been preparing.

The waves might not have been huge, but with a cooling off-shore breeze and steady lines of swell pulsing past The Point, Burleigh Heads was looking the best it has for the last few mornings. The action in the Von Zipper trials got underway at around 8am, and with just seven heats to get through, the three qualifiers for the main draw were decided by lunchtime.

There was a cross-section of nationalities competing in the VZ Trials, revelling in the clean two-foot peeling waves in front of the crowd watching on the hill. Noa Deane was an early eye-catcher, launching above the lip and setting the tail free at every opportunity. But the young Coolangatta surfer wasn’t able to win past the semi finals.

Pretty as a picture at Burleigh Heads in the morning. As Nos Deane slides into a bottom turn a SUP'er out the back cruises towards the northern beach-break.

And despite surfers from Brazil, Peru, Japan and other nations, it was the homegrown talent that shone through with four young Australians winning their ways into the final.

With three spots up for grabs in the main draw for the Billabong World Junior Championship, the final heat was a tight tussle with surfers clawing for waves all across the contest zone. Several times freesurfers bunched up in the beach-break to the north had to be reminded to move away from the contest exclusion zone as the young finalists milked every wave coming around the point for as many scoring manoeuvres as they could.

But in the end it was the aerial antics and solid rail work of Wade Carmichael who triumphed ahead of Eli Steele and Tim MacDonald – all of whom are looking forward to contesting in the Billabong Junior Worlds main draw starting tomorrow morning. Kelly Norris was the unlucky fourth-place finalist who didn’t score a guernsey in the Junior Worlds.

Wade Carmichael styled this air reverse in the final on his way to victory.

And looking ahead, with Davey Cathels withdrawing from the Junior Worlds due to a recent serious ankle injury, Ciao Ibelli takes the number-one ranked spot all to himself. But snapping at his heels is Byron Bay’s Garrett Parkes, and with 10,000 points on offer for first place, Jack Freestone is well within striking distance of defending his 2011 Junior World Title.

The Billabong World Junior Championship Gold Coast will be held at Burleigh Heads from 21 to 19 January 2012. For more information and to see the junior men’s and women’s starting draw head to the website.

All morning Noa Deane spent as much times above the lip as he could.

Burleigh Heads forms an amazing natural amphitheatre to watch the surfing unfold, but perhaps the best seat in the house was on the playground swings.

Wade Carmichael, Kelly Norris, Eli Steele and Tim MacDonald all couldn't to work out how to wear the giant Von Zipper sunglasses.