Australia's Best Up-And-Coming Junior Surfers Make Light Work Of Challenging Surf At Lennox Head

Day two of the Skullcandy Oz Grom Open pres. by O'Neill saw the first rounds of the World Surf League (WSL) Pro Junior division kick off in another day of wild and wooly conditions at Lennox Head.

Recent ISA World Junior Champion and 2023 Under-18 Boys Skullcandy Oz Grom winner Dane Henry (Fingal Head, NSW) showed why he is a world title holder, marching through the opening round of competition. Henry made light work of the difficult surf to seal his position in the second round and make it known that he's gunning for another title to add to his already over-flowing resume.

Continuing on from his stellar performance in the Under-16 Boys, Ocean Lancaster (Merewether, NSW) mustered up some last-minute heroics to sneak through his opening round exchange in the Pro Junior division. Needing a solid score in the final minutes of the exchange, Lancaster belted one mammoth backhand snap that was rewarded with a respectable 6.67 wave score which propelled him into a progressing position.

Lennix Smith (Shellharbour, NSW) showed why he's considered the future of Australian surfing, nailing a series of critical snaps and carves to cement a spot into the second round.

Other round one standouts included Fletcher Kelleher (Manly, NSW), Ty Richardson (Palm Beach, Qld), Ben Zanatta Creagh (Dee Why, NSW) and Luke Brumby (Sunshine Coast, Qld) who all notched up heat totals in excess of 12.00 points.

In the women's division, Tayla Green (NZL) showed that risky surfing would be rewarded by the judges when she executed a series of successful critical carves. The powerful natural footer hammered an array of sections in the challenging surf to post an excellent 8.00 wave score and a 7.50 to take her two-wave total to 15.50.

Isla Huppatz (Gold Coast, Qld) showed she was a force to be reckoned with, finishing her heat with a decent 11.76 two-wave heat total. She will now meet fellow event standouts Ruby Berry (WA), Olive Hardy (WA) and Milla Brown (Bungan, NSW) in an electric round two match up.

Day three of the competition (Saturday, 6th July) will see more Pro Junior rounds hitting the water followed by the commencement of the Under-18 division.

The iconic six-day event will run from 4 July - 9 July 2024 and will comprise of a World Surf League (WSL) sanctioned Pro Junior Qualifying Series (JQS) event as well as an elite competition for promising grommets in the 14, 16 and 18 year age divisions.

In a similar vein to previous years - where the event has attracted surfers from ten different countries - a full international field is again expected in 2024 with surfers coming from as far away as Europe, the USA, Hawaii, Indonesia and Japan to make up a field of more than 180 surfers across all divisions.

Former event competitors include a range of current and former World Championship Tour and Challenger Series surfers, such as Macy Callaghan, Molly Picklum, Mikey, Owen and Tyler Wright, Jack Robinson and local surfers Ocea Curtis and Nyxie Ryan.