USA takes Bronze - ISA World Championships
Words of USA head coach Ian Cairns:
With 12 of the best under 18 American surfers on the plane to Piha, NZ, I was confident that we had a USA Junior Team with the skills to win a gold medal. Our main rivals have traditionally been Australia, Hawaii, South Africa and France and I was keen to improve on the 2009 fourth place finish. The Quiksilver ISA World Juniors is a long and grueling event and day seven was not kind to the America team -- by day's end we lost six surfers to tough heats and we had dropped behind Australia and Hawaii in the overall standings. To win gold, Team USA would need to win in the Women's and take first and second in the U16 Men's. Day eight would be dramatic.
In the end it was Lakey Peterson with a fourth in the Women's Final and Jake Halstead with a second in the U16 Men's Final. With those results America finished with the bronze medal closely behind Hawaii and Australia.
For me this event was a great learning experience and we will be back in 2011 with a great, young US team, new strategies and a revitalized effort.
With 12 of the best under 18 American surfers on the plane to Piha, NZ, I was confident that we had a USA Junior Team with the skills to win a gold medal. Our main rivals have traditionally been Australia, Hawaii, South Africa and France and I was keen to improve on the 2009 fourth place finish. The Quiksilver ISA World Juniors is a long and grueling event and day seven was not kind to the America team -- by day's end we lost six surfers to tough heats and we had dropped behind Australia and Hawaii in the overall standings. To win gold, Team USA would need to win in the Women's and take first and second in the U16 Men's. Day eight would be dramatic.
In the end it was Lakey Peterson with a fourth in the Women's Final and Jake Halstead with a second in the U16 Men's Final. With those results America finished with the bronze medal closely behind Hawaii and Australia.
For me this event was a great learning experience and we will be back in 2011 with a great, young US team, new strategies and a revitalized effort.
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