5. DAY 1
Day started at 7am with breakfast and intros followed
by a warm up session performed by the Surfing
Australia HPC fitness & conditioning coaches. We then
packed boards and wetsuits and headed to Kingscliff for
the first video surf session. They watched how to surf
videos which enlightened them the do's and dont's in
surfing.
6. After the surf we returned to the HPC centre to review
the video footage with surfers and get their input on
the session and select a surfer as the “best performer”
of the designated task (perform 2 critical manoeuvers
on each wave) Billy Harrison awarded best surfer for
this session and had to do presentation speech for this.
7. The presentation speech had an emphasis on “being
different” and interesting to the possible media to
make it an attractive talk and something they can run
with. Sponsors want to have multi-talented surfers who
not only perform in the water but are also ambassadors
for the companies they represent and ‘saleable’ in the
market place.
8. Lunch and a short break then it was down to the beach
again with 4x world champion Mark MR Richards with
us to see the session. We went to Cabarita where we
were greeted by 3ft cross shore conditions with clean
faces for the afternoon video session.
9. Returning to the HPC centre for an in depth talk on
board design led by Mark Richards we were treated to
some inspiring stories and wise words that all the kids
and coaches learnt from. Talking about heat
preparation, and ways to get the job done in a heat and
life, to be focused, and train hard. I took the
opportunity to get my photo taken with the great man
after the talk before we signed off for the day to have
dinner and relax for the evening.
10. DAY 2
Early rise at 6.30am to overcast conditions and light SW
winds (offshore) After breakfast it was time to review
yesterday arvo session footage. The task of 2 turn
combinations was reviewed with most meeting the task
however inconsistent performances from all. Sandon
Whitaker(Avoca) was awarded the ‘Man of the match’
with several high scoring combinations.
11. Talked about the need for consistency and setting tasks,
and practicing these whilst freesurfing. MR went on to
talk about finishing waves and the rigors of competition
and his 4 world titles ( Mark is a great storyteller with
plenty to share). He also added the surfing competition
rules that should be follow in order to win the game.
12. The task was set again for our next surf lessons South
Australia session and we packed the buses and headed
to the beach for our next session greeted by clean 2-3ft
lefts and rights offering an outside section and some
continuing through to the inside. The task for this
session was again on surf skills and 2 turn combinations
with an emphasis on finishing waves.
13. All surfers upped the ante, many surfers accomplishing
the task with some high scoring combinations
impressing the coaches but standout surfer was
another Avoca surfer in Caleb Tancred receiving the
‘Man of the match’ for this session who scored long
rides with multiple critical manoeuvres on several
waves.
14. With lunch and a little relaxing time out of the way it
was time to hit the pool with Nam Baldwin from
Equalize for Breath Enhancement Training (B.E.T). Nam
works with professional surfers Mick Fanning and Mark
Matthews in their competition and big wave breathing
programs to maximize performance and breath hold
times. This was a very educational session with WCT
professionals Glenn ‘Micro’Hall and Matt Wilkinson
joining the session and getting as much out of it as we
did!
15. Late afternoon was decided to be some relaxing time
ready for a big final day of gym session followed by
heat scenario competition finish to the camp
tomorrow!
16. DAY 3
Last day of the camp and another early rise for
scrambled eggs, cereal and other assorted treats..
Breakfast done and it was down to the gym for a fitness
& conditioning session before packing the van with kids
and boards for our last surf session “competition day”.
The kids were given the heat draw and after a quick
free surfing exercises it was into the first heats.
17. The standard of surfing was high throughout all heats
with 7 to 9 points rides attained for for the surfers that
progressed. With the semi finals done it was down and
4 surfers remaining the final was a high scoring and
tight affair with numerous exchanges going down with
vertical reentries, carves, hacks and a few massive top
turns.
After the final it was back to the HPC Centre for lunch,
wrap up and presentations of the contest and MR
surfer of the camp.
18. The final result of the MR contest was a deserved
winner in Caleb Tancred just beating an in form Sandon
Whitaker followed by Dexter Muskens 3rd and Jagger
Bartholamew 4th.
The surfers were then put in an interview situation
where they had to tell everyone a little bit about
themselves with a “story” to give to the “media” to
grab their attention.
Final presentation of the Mark Richards surfer of the
camp went to, Sandon Whitaker for his overall attitude,
dedication and performance throughout the camp
which was presented to him by Mark Richards.
19. Surfing South Australia representative Levi Bailey Post
Camp Interview:
What did you like most about the camp?
Meeting new people and surfing in the warm water.
What was your favourite session?
The final session because I used a Mick Fanning model
DHD which was there to try and loved it.
20. What was the surf like?
Pretty fun but difficult to catch a good one, and a lot
more powerful than I expected.
What do you think you will benefit most from as a
result of the camp?
Watching the other kids surf and comparing myself to
the other kids surfing standard to improve my surfing
21. Who was your favourite surfer?
Sandy (Sandon Whitaker ) – heaps of power in his turns
and good flow
What advice would you give to other SA juniors from
what you saw and learnt over the camp
Push yourself and don’t always do safe turns. Try some
new stuff!!
