Surfing

Smith on top of the world after win in Australia

Team SA Olympian surfer Jordy Smith has won the Margaret River Pro event in Australia to take him to No1 in the World Surf League’s Championship Tour rankings. The 37-year-old Smith, who represented Team SA at the Paris 2024 Games, is the the oldest surfer on tour and has bagged two wins this season…

May 27, 20250Comments ByGary Lemke

Surfing

Smith rolls back the years for emotional win

Jordy Smith won the battle of the Team SA Olympians when he took his first world championship tour victory in eight years at the Surf City El Salvador Pro in long, overhead waves. The 37-year-old Smith, who joined the tour in 2008, excelled as the waves improved for the final two days of competition…

April 13, 20250Comments ByGary Lemke

Surfing

Sampson a role model, in and out of the ocean

The life story of Paul Sampson is well documented. As a young child he was homeless, drifting along the coast of Muizenberg with his mother, who worked as a car guard to provide food and a blanket. He had no roof to protect him from the biting winter air or the dehydrating rays of the…

April 10, 20250Comments ByGary Lemke

Surfing

Slippen, Lepront rule waves in Gqeberha

Connor Slippen and Louise Lepront emerged as winners of the World Surf League Qualifying Series SA Open of Surfing 1,000 at a windy Gqeberha, with Luc Lepront and Natasha van Greunen being runners-up. Sunday was an intense day of competition, completing multiple rounds, but the conditions improved dramatically after Saturday's gale-force onshore situation. The…

March 17, 20250Comments ByGary Lemke

Surfing

Thompson, Lepront keep up challenge

The Pro Taghazout Bay in Morocco was a World Surf League 3000 Qualifying Series event that saw many South African surfers gathering for their share of the points and prize money. Being a 3,000 it has three times the number of points on offer at any of the 1,000 QS events staged around South Africa. Morocco…

March 1, 20250Comments ByGary Lemke

Surfing

Sampson finds the right waves in Ivory Coast

South African surfer Paul Sampson has secured the biggest win of his career, taking first place at the prestigious Africa Surf Tour event in Annise, Ivory Coast. Sampson, widely regarded as one of South Africa’s leading transformation surfers, has been steadily making a name for himself on the Africa Surf Tour circuit. His latest…

February 26, 20250Comments ByGary Lemke

Surfing

SA Para surfer Dlamini gears up for fourth aQuellé Midmar Mile

South African Para surfer Similo Dlamini will be among the thousands of swimmers who return to Midmar Dam from 8-11 February next year for the 2024 aQuellé Midmar Mile. Dlamini, who has a congenital condition that means her right leg is shorter than the left and she needs to use a prosthetic leg, has twice…

December 5, 20230Comments ByGary Lemke

Surfing

Injury rules Jordy Smith out of Olympics

Leading South African surfer Jordy Smith has withdrawn from the Tokyo Olympics due to injury.

July 2, 20210Comments ByGary Lemke

Surfing

Jordy hits the waves in Hawaii season opener

Leading South African surfer Jordy Smith will take on Jadson Andre (BRA) and Sebastian Zietz (HAW) in his first competitive heat of the year when the 2021 WSL (World Surf League) Championship Tour starts with the 50th edition of the Billabong Pipe Masters on Oahu, Hawaii.

December 9, 20200Comments ByGary Lemke