Team Hawaii enjoys plenty of success at the DaKine ISA World Surfing Championships
Team Hawaii claimed the Team Gold Medal at the Da Kine International Surfing Association (ISA) World Surfing Championships presented by Billabong that wrapped up at Playa Venao beach-break in Panama on Monday, April 23.
It took seven years for the Verizon Hawaii Junior Surf Team, official name of the Hawaiian Team, to get back on top of the podium, with their last gold medal coming in 2005.
To make the campaign even more memorable for the Hawaiian Team, Dax McGill and Kalani David managed to claim gold medals in the Girls Under-18 and Boys Under-16 division respectively.
With a total of 303 young surfers from around the globe competing in three divisions of the eight-day contest, the fans got treated to a series of spectacular performances and heavy dose of action.
In Girls Under-18 Final, McGill took on a handful of promising surfers, which included her compatriots Tatiana W-Webb and Mahina Maeda.
The 14-year-old McGill put on an impressive performance to eventually finish with a heat-total of 12.60 points, consequently walking away with top honours. Australia’s Ellie Jean Coffey rounded out the runner-up place with a two-wave total of 9.20 points
to take home the silver medal, while W-Webb and Maeda clinched bronze and copper medal after finishing with a heat-total of 8.53 and 8.24 points respectively.
Commenting on her winning way, McGill stated, “I did that first hit and got super psyched and saw two more sections coming up and I was like, 'let's whack this thing as hard as I've ever whacked something before!”
Not to be outshined by his female team-member, David landed an exquisite performance in the Boys Under-16 Final to barely edge past Japan’s Takumi Nakamura after finishing with a heat-total of 13.50 points against his rival’s 13.40. This consequently earned
him the highest place on the podium while forcing the Japanese surfer to settle for the silver medal.
"I'm super stoked right now. It means the world to me to win the Gold Medal. Being in a contest with junior surfers from all around the world, it definitely is something I'll remember forever," said an ecstatic David.
Costa Rica’s Noe Mar McGonagle finished third to take home the bronze medal, while Hawaii’s Josh Moniz secured copper with a two-wave total of 11.17 points.
The Final of Boys Under-18 was won by Brazil’s Matheus Navarro through a spectacular performance for a heat-total of 16.93 points, while his fellow countryperson Deivid Silva took runner-up place with a two-wave total of 16.83 points, consequently claiming
silver medal.
Portugal’s Vasco Ribeiro and Australia’s Joshua Hay rounded out the top-four with a respective heat-total of 11.77 and 11.37 points, thus taking home the bronze and copper medal for their effort.
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