Confident Start From Kiwis at the World Junior Championship

The New Zealand Junior Surfing Team has confidently commenced their campaign at the 2025 International Surfing Association World Junior Championships being held in Peru this week.

To date, eleven of the twelve team mates have advanced through their opening round heats with one further team member to compete in the early hours on Tuesday morning.

This year's event is being held at Punta Roca, a right and lefthand point break that, for the first two days, has delivered solid 1.5m – 2.0m waves and good conditions. This year's event has a record 424 participants from 57 countries taking part.

Dunedin's Alexis Owen continued where he left off last year after his bronze medal in the Under 16 Boys Division, posting a 14.34 point heat total in his first outing at the event. Owen's performance comprised of the highest single wave score of the division – 8.67 out of a possible 10 points.

Owen advanced through the round alongside Tao Mouldey (Mnt) who finished second in his heat putting aside a slow start to finish strongly in second place. Jacob Haines (Rag) is yet to surf at the event but will be in action from 3:40am Tuesday morning.

Pauanui's Groube sisters were matched together in the Under 18 Girls Division with Lola getting the edge over Chloe, the two advancing to the next round. Lola was among the top five heat scorers for the division after the first round showing perfect execution with big smooth backhand carves. New Zealand flag bearer, Leia Millar (Piha), also advanced through her heat finishing second to Ocea Green (Can).

It was Green that was matched up with the Kiwi's in the Under 16 Girls Division as well, also besting Brisa Canina in their match up, the two surfers advancing to the second round. Canina looked strong on her backhand, surfing on the second podium and pushing for the heat win on several occasions.

In the final heat of Day 2, Alani Morse (Rag) and Poppy Arkle (Piha) completed another one-two Kiwi finish. After a fog delay, the two surfers remained focussed in the tough afternoon glare and finished their heat strong, Alani getting the nod with a 6.17 point ride at the end of the heat.

On day 1 it was the Under 16 Boys who surfed the second podium, Vitor Bauermann and Benji Lowen getting the wins with Luca Thompson finishing in second behind Lowen in their heat.

The event takes place from the 7th – 15th December 2025 at Punta Roca, Peru. With a huge field of surfers, this year's event only features a second chance format with all surfers from the repechage rounds joining back into Round 2 and single elimination from there on in.