GARDEN ROUTE SURFING NEWS - The Madibaz surfing team, of which local boy Greg Cuthbert is a member, took on the University Sport SA (USSA) surfing competition this past weekend and cemented themselves as a team to reckon with in the local surfing scene.
The team, comprising students from Nelson Mandela University in Port Elizabeth, went all out from Wednesday 18 July at Victoria Bay near George, competing against top teams from Stellenbosch, Cape Town and Rhodes universities and Varsity College.
In last year’s tournament, the Nelson Mandela Bay surfers came within a whisker of winning the overall title, ultimately losing to UCT by just eight points, and this year was much of the same, but winning silver is nothing to scoff at.
Madibaz surfing manager Melinda Goosen said that before the big competition, following a weekend camp at Vic Bay last month, there was a sense of confidence in the squad.
This confidence was sustained throughout the competition as the Madibaz came second overall, and tops in the women's section. They also palmed in silver medals for both the men's team section and the men's and ladies' individual sections.
Cuthbert came fourth in the men's section.
According to Goosen the weather and surfing conditions were great, except for the first day when Vic Bay was flatter than she had ever seen, and the competition was momentarily moved to Herolds Bay.
"I am so proud of my team. We were also the only team to field two individual surfers in both the men's and women's individual finals," she said.
Results
- Overall men and women: 1 UCT; 2 Madibaz
- Men's section: 1 UCT; 2 Madibaz
- Women's section: 1 Madibaz; 2 UCT
Men individual finals:
1 Steffan Burrows, UCT;
2 Klaus Schroder, Madibaz;
3 Cody Coetzee, Varsity College;
4 Greg Cuthbert, Madibaz
Ladies individual finals:
1 Anoush Zakarian, UCT;
2 Tahra Uren, Madibaz;
3 Britney Linder, Madibaz;
4 Georgie Snaddon, Rhodes
The USSA week, which is supported by Billabong, Red Bull and Surfing SA, finished on Saturday 21 July.
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