It is all about the 'spirit of surfing' in Cronulla, as the surfing community gets set to celebrate the 10-year anniversary of Cronulla Beach's national surfing reserve on Saturday, September 21.
Cronulla had the fifth Australian national surfing reserve. There are now 21 reserves on the Australian coast line and the function, supported by Olsen's, will be attended by local boardriding clubs, Cronulla Surfing Walk of Fame inductees and community representatives.
Cronulla Beach's national surfing reserve was declared in September 2008 and is home to many of southern Sydney's premier surfing spots.
The Cronulla beaches and reefs are home to former world champion surfers and other important figures in the development of Australian surfing. One of the largest surfing reserves in Australia, the 'Nulla' is proudly preserved by a strong and active surfing community.
The reserve acknowledges the surfing way of life and links past, present and future generations who share the natural ocean environment in Cronulla. It celebrates the riding of waves and the significant contribution that local surfers and surfing culture plays in our community.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison said it was about a way of life with the beach, the coast, the surf and the community all coming together to enjoy a healthy and active lifestyle and offered his congratulations for the contribution the surfing community has made.
Cronulla has once again had a feast of good waves this week until yesterdays SS-Wester blew through turning the ocean into a washing machine except in the very corners of the beach.
The forecast is for the wind to be offshore this morning cleaning up the still solid 4-6 ft waves and giving surfers another early birthday present all along the beach before going nor-east for the afternoon-Thursday also looks fantastic for surfers,hopefully the banks will have held up and help spread the crowds.
The weekend is busy with the Spring Malibu Classic at the Alley and the CARVE Dunny Bowl on at Elouera-so space will be at a premium with some nice 2-4 ft waves in the morning before an onshore spike in the wind and swell kicking it up to 3-5ft.
Sunday morning should see smaller 2-3 ft waves on our beaches with nice clean winds.
Meanwhile, more than 200 athletes from 55 nations have gathered in Miyazaki, Japan, to compete in the 2019 ISA World Surfing Games, presented by Vans.
This year will be an historic edition of the event, as it will be the first to directly qualify athletes for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.
Cronulla's Shane Campbell is there representing his country of birth - Canada - making their team after a second place in the 2019 Rip Curl Nationals last month.
The men's Canadian Open final came down to the dying seconds as nine-time champion Peter Devries went for a massive and critical front side full rotation air on his last wave, scoring an 8.00 to go from fourth to first, leapfrogging Campbell, Sean Foerster and Cody Young for gold.
In Japan, Brazilian teammates and former ISA junior gold medalists Filipe Toledo and Gabriel Medina said they were excited.
"It's an honor to be here," Toledo said.
"Surfing for a gold medal in the Olympics will be much bigger than anything that we currently have in the sport. There is a long road to Tokyo but I hope to be there and win a gold medal for Brazil."
Team Australia sits in a solid position after day four of the 2019 ISA World Surfing Games presented by Vans after the women's draw wrapped up in good conditions this morning. Australia current sits in 4th position on the leaderboard heading into day five.
Sally Fitzgibbons was the last of the Aussie girls in the event after winning through to Repechage ten before being eliminated in a stacked heat that included Carissa Moore (USA), Bianca Buitendag (South Africa) and Tatiana Weston-Webb (Brazil).
Teammates Stephanie Gilmore and Nikki Van Dijk surfed through until Repechage 8 and 9 before being eliminated. Gilmore posted a massive 18.2 point heat total in Repechage 8 before finishing third in Repechage 9 behind Fitzgibbons and Moore.
Peru's Sofia Mulanovich was crowned Women's Gold Medalist on Tuesday with another South American second Silvana Lima ,Bianca Buitendag third and Carissa Moore fourth-I'm putting money on a South American being crowned Olympic Gold Medalist next year.
The Australian men hit the water after lunch for round one of the main draw, Julian Wilson and Ryan Callinan both getting off to perfect starts by winning heats one and five respectively with Shane Campbell coming second in his heat and surfing again in heat 50 today against Ricardo Christie from NZ.
Brazilian Miguel Pupo has won the QS10,000 ABANCA Galicia Classic Surf Pro, claiming victory in the Final against Jake Marshall (USA) held in three-to-five foot surf at playa de Pantin.
Stop No. 9 on the 2019 World Surf League European Qualifying Series , the ABANCA Galicia Classic Surf Pro, has juggled with a tricky forecast and witnessed impressive performances from some of the world's best surfers, culminating today with Pupo's victory.
"I have no words to describe what I'm feeling right now," Pupo said. "I've had a few hard years and this feels incredible to be back on the podium and especially winning."
The 27 year-old surfer from Sao Paulo who spent 8 uninterrupted seasons on the Championship Tour, claimed a massive result in his bid to re-qualify for the Elite Top 34 next year. This marks Pupo's fifth victory on the Qualifying Series, each of which he has claimed at the highest-level events: two QS 10,000 wins today and in 2015, as well as three "Prime" events, the former highest level of the QS.
Global Qualifying Series Men's Top 10:
1 - Jadson Andre (BRA)
2 - Alex Ribeiro (BRA)
3 - Miguel Pupo (BRA)
4 - Jorgann Couzinet (FRA)
5 - Matt Banting (AUS)
6 - Deivid Silva (BRA)
7 - Yago Dora (BRA)
8 - Jake Marshall (USA)
9 - Barron Mamiya (HAW)
10 - Liam O'Brien (AUS)
