Surf City, El Salvador — May 29th 2022 — A full day of action took place today at the 2022 Surf City El Salvador ISA World Junior Surfing Championship. Round 1 of Boys U-18 wrapped up at La Bocana before Girls U-18 kicked off to run through their Round 1, while Round 1 of Boys U-16 was completed at El Sunzal.
Wave selection proved to be the crucial factor at El Sunzal today. Jackson Dorian had no problems cracking the code in the first heat of the day for Boys U-16. The Hawaiian dropped two 9’s for an excellent heat total of 18.20 in his first international junior competition.
Excellent scores [RJF1] were delivered as Hans Odriozola (ESP) found an 8.67 and Lucas Senkbeil an 8.00 (MEX). Hughie Vaughan (AUS) also came close with a 7.83, but the rest of the Boys U-16 field were unable to find themselves anywhere near Dorian’s dominance.
Competitors at La Bocana had plenty of options with perfect, glassy 4-6 foot peaks rolling in. Shion Crawford (HAW) made quick work of it, sealing the highest single wave score (8.33) out of the four Boys U-18 heats held to complete Round 1. Nicolas Paulet (FRA) received the highest heat total (15.57).
The rest of the day at La Bocana belonged to the Girls U-18 division. Early standouts included Kana Nakashio (JPN) and Kiany Hyakutake (BRA), with Puamakamae Desoto [RJF2] (HAW) claiming a 9.00 late in the day. It was Janire Gonzalez (ESP) however, who collected both the highest wave score and heat total. Her searing forehand snaps lit up the left for two 9-point rides and the current top heat total of the event (18.40).
Heimiti and Kohai Fierro are enjoying competing in their first ISA event. Following in the footsteps of their older sister Vahine, the 2016 Silver Medalist, the sisters are proud members of Team Tahiti.
“It’s super exciting,” 15-year-old Kohai shared. “You meet new people, especially because I’m doing the two categories, U-16 and U-18. I’m super-stoked to be here and I hope I’m going to do my best and have a good result.”
The sole representative for the Philippines, Noah Arkfeld, is enjoying his first taste of international competition.
“It’s really fun to travel here. It’s really exciting. Especially because it’s my first time traveling internationally. I’m very happy to be representing the Philippines for the juniors for the first time. I’m super stoked.”
Recently surviving Typhoon Odette, which destroyed much of his home island of Siargao, was a scary experience for the 17-year-old who grew up walking distance from the fabled Cloud 9 surf break.
“It was pretty hard. We had no electricity for a couple weeks. The food was hard to find, and water. Our house was also partly destroyed.”
ISA President Fernando Aguerre said:
“It was amazing to see so many huge performances on day two of competition in the incredible waves of El Salvador.”
“With girls making up 45% of the championship we are seeing their surfing pushed to massive new heights. It is so exciting that we are closer than ever to our goal of full gender equality.”
“It’s also great to see so many new names surfing incredibly well, especially those from newer surfing nations.”
For a Day 1 Recap at the 2022 ISA World Junior Championship, click here.
Stay tuned to AmericanSurfMagazine.com for updates.