Surfing: Backhand surfing sets Robinson apart

NATIONAL SUCCESS: Whangarei's Tom Robinson carved his way to first at the recent Primary School Championships held in Gisborne.PHOTO/CORY SCOTT@NZ SURFING MAGAZINE

Whangarei surfer Tom Robinson has claimed his first win at national level.

Joining Mount Maunganui Girls Division surfer Georgia Wederall on the podium, Robinson was victorious in the Boys Division of the Sticky Johnson Primary School Championships in Gisborne.

With a solid 1.0m swell and light onshore winds at Makorori Beach, Robinson was the lone goofy-foot surfer in the final but used that to his advantage, setting himself apart from his opponents with some exceptional backhand surfing in the final and in the earlier round robin heats.

Robinson finished with a 9.83 point heat total to claim victory over event standouts Tom Butland (Taranaki) and Finn Johnson (Gisborne) in the final - who had both been undefeated until that point of the event. In his semifinal, Robinson defeated Cory Vercoe (Mangawhai) and Maddy Barclay (Oamaru).

After the last of three preliminary rounds, eight surfers were locked on 18 points with only the last two qualifying spots up for grabs and going to Cory Vercoe (Mangawhai) and James Ririnui by way of their superior combined heat scores.

Georgia Wederall claimed her third straight win in the Girls Division to make it a clean sweep of victories over Levin surfer Natasha Goldsbury. Other Northland surfers on the charge included Taj Broughton (Kaitaia), Jacob Buckle (Waipu), as well as Mangawhai surfers Taj Robinson and Luke Vercoe.

A number of the grommets now head to the GromLab Surfer Development Camp.

The four-day camp will have the New Zealand's youngsters sampling the East Coast region's waves whilst under the guidance of the region's top coaches. The competition focus switches to the Eastland Community Trust National Scholastic Surfing Championships.