CRONULLA kneeboarder Gavin Colman may have a plaque on the surfing walk of fame at Cronulla after his two wins in the 2007 and 2009 world titles but it wasn't enough to get him across the line at the most recent world titles held at Kiama earlier this month.
Colman was one of 120 competitors from competing nations that included Australia, New Zealand, Tahiti, the US, Spain, Venezuela, France, England, Ireland, South Africa and Japan.
The kneeboard event was fully sanctioned by the International Surfing Association, surfing's governing body, and crowned champions in both the open and various age divisions.
One of the favourites for the main event, Colman won his age category (Masters 40-44) but couldn't win back his open title which was won by Australian Albert Munoz, who won his second World Kneeboard Championship against Chayne Simpson in a hard-fought, man-on-man heat.
Munoz had to beat the former two-time world champion Colman to make the final.
Dane Rennie, another local kneeboarder from Gymea, came third in his senior men's (30 to 39) age category with a very tough final, being beaten by the current top two open division kneeboard surfers in his division.
Kneeboarding is a niche part of the world surfing family and their world titles are held every two years at various locations.
Previous events have been held at Tahiti, Phillip Island, New Zealand, Santa Cruz and South Africa.
The next world titles will be held at Somo, Cantabria, Spain, in 2017.
