Merewether, NSW, AUSTRALIA 14 January 2017
THE newly crowned world junior surfing champion Macy-Jane Callaghan will defend the nib Pro Junior women’s title she won at Merewether last year. The youngster clinched a total of four events on her way to claiming the 2016 Australasia region junior title before becoming the best junior surfer on the planet after her win at the world title in Kiama last week. She will be the top seed when the 2017 nib Pro Junior women’s competition is contested on the weekend of February 11 and 12 at Merewether beach as part of the 2017 Surfest.
The 16-year-old sensation from Avoca Beach on the Central Coast finished No.15 on the 2016 women’s QS, which means she’s not that far removed from qualifying for the elite world tour. The natural-footer, who has just completed year 10, had been identified as the next young Australian female expected to make waves in the sport recently added to the Olympics for the 2020 Tokyo Games.
Callaghan will be up against a field of 27 other surfers at the nib Pro Junior, including contestants from Brazil, the USA, New Zealand, French Polynesia, Costa Rica and Hawaii. The Gold Coast’s Kobie Enright, who made it to the quarter-finals of last week’s world junior titles at Kiama and ranked 33 on the 2016 women’s QS tour, will be one of the contestants keen to improve her standing in 2017.
In the junior men’s nib Pro Junior running the same weekend at Merewether, 77 surfers from Australia, Indonesia, Japan, South Africa, Canary Islands and the USA are vying for a start in the men’s junior regional qualifying series 1000 point event.
The 2017 Surfest Newcastle Australia will see the 32nd running of the men’s event, making it one of Australia’s longest running professional surfing competitions. Beyond the Maitland and Port Stephens Toyota Pro and the Anditi Women’s Pro, Surfest Newcastle Australia will host the nib Pro Junior, the ORICA Surfboard Club Team Challenge, the Sanbah Cadet Cup boys and Dalton Lawyers girls presented by Arcbuild, the Wandiyali ATSI Indigenous Classic, the Maitland and Port Stephens Toyota High School Teams Challenge, the Surfaid Cup and the Lake Mac Festival of Surfing.
For further information call Warren Smith on +61 412127525.
