The Tribune

By JONATHAN BURROWS

Tribune Sports Reporter

jburrows@tribunemedia.net

TWO 10-foot waves and a difficult eight-foot-plus lineup gave Team Bahamas another taste of what it takes to compete on the international stage yesterday, but the young surfers are leaving their mark as the country makes its historic debut at the ISA World Junior Surfing Championship in El Salvador.

D’Andro Thompson, 15, and Yemaya Hauber, 14, were both eliminated at La Bocana, but not before putting themselves through some of the most challenging surf they have encountered in competition.

Thompson, competing in the under-16 boys’ division, finished his heat by catching two set waves around 10 feet, taking on powerful surf at the La Bocana break as he attempted to keep his campaign alive.

The result ended Thompson’s run at the championship, but the teenager was proud of his performance and is already looking toward the future after getting his first taste of international competition.

Thompson’s appearance in El Salvador is significant in itself. The Harbour Island All Age School student has been surfing for four years through the Bahamas Surfing Association’s Eleuthera Surf Club community outreach programme, and his debut has given him the chance to share the lineup with some of the best young surfers from around the world. “I’ve been surfing for four years. My biggest strength is going down the line. My weakness is slipping off my surfboard,” Thompson said before the championship.

He now has a first international competition under his belt and the experience of taking on 10-foot set waves at La Bocana to build from. Hauber faced her own major test at the same break, negotiating blown-out conditions with waves reaching more than eight feet. The 14-year-old was also eliminated, but did a strong job surviving and working through the difficult lineup.

Her approach to the championship had been centred around learning from unfamiliar conditions and continuing to develop her surfing. “My strengths in surfing are wave selection and I’d like to improve on my duck diving and turning and I’m most excited for meeting new people and surfing in different conditions,” Hauber said ahead of the event.

While Thompson and Yemaya have completed their competition, Team Bahamas still has three surfers with opportunities to continue its historic run.

Makayla Hauber advanced into the next stage of the under-16 girls’ competition and is scheduled to face an Australian and two South Africans at La Bocana.

Her twin sister Yemaya’s run may be over, but the sisters have already shared an important milestone by becoming part of the first Bahamian team to compete at the World Junior Championship.

Makayla entered the event looking forward to testing herself internationally and improving the parts of her surfing she identified before travelling.

“My biggest strength is my bottom turn to top turn combo and I’m looking forward to improving my duck dives and I’m looking forward to surfing internationally,” she said.

Eliza Denning, 18, also remains in contention in the under-18 girls’ division and entered her repechage heat seeded second in a three-surfer field.

The Lyford Cay International School graduate brings considerable experience from another water sport, having represented The Bahamas in sailing and recently finished 12th at the ILCA6 Youth World Championships in Denmark.

Denning sees surfing as another opportunity to compete in a sport that keeps her connected to the ocean.

“ISA World Jrs will be my first big surfing event. I have surfed for fun in a few other countries but the only other surf contests I have done have been in Eleuthera,” Denning said.

“I’m super excited to be able to surf with some of the best young surfers and my goal is to learn and improve my surfing as much as I can, and gain experience surfing in big contests.”

Isaiah Thompson, 13, the youngest member of Team Bahamas, is also still fighting to extend his campaign.

The Gregory Town, Eleuthera, surfer opened his account at El Sunzal in six-to-eight foot waves, catching three waves and recording a 1.13 heat total. He finished fourth and moved into the repechage, but his performance included one of the best cutbacks of his young surfing career.

Isaiah will now have another opportunity to advance, with his repechage heat scheduled at La Bocana against surfers from El Salvador, Sweden and Canada.

The five surfers are being accompanied by head coach Tom Glucksmann and coach Andrew Wilkinson who have both played a central role in preparing the young team for its first international championship appearance.

Before the championship, Isaiah, Yemaya and Glucksmann participated in the ISA’s Youth Athlete Development Programme in Punta Mango, El Salvador.

The Bahamas was one of 10 countries selected for the programme, which provided training and mentorship from August 29 to September 1.

Glucksmann said the opportunity was about much more than simply getting the surfers into heats.

“We have a very young team and our team goals are to have fun, learn and represent the country well. We want the kids to see this as a jumping off point,” Glucksmann said.

“The powerful waves of El Salvador and a contest of this calibre represent a huge step up in their surfing careers, but we felt that having been accepted to the YADP it was a good time to form this team.”

He also pointed to the athletic ability within the group and the potential for the experience to push the surfers forward.

“I’m very excited to have athletes of the calibre of Eliza and Isaiah. Their natural athletic ability definitely carries over into surfing. My hope is this experience pushes them to keep progressing in the sport,” Glucksmann said.

Glucksmann has also emphasised the importance of the team supporting each other despite surfing being an individual sport.

“It’s a great group of kids and I think our team dynamic will be strong. Surfing is an individualistic sport but with everyone representing the 242 the idea is to all get behind each other and see if we can’t have someone make it through a round,” Glucksmann said.

“But our bottom line is everyone learns, enjoys the experience and catches some waves.”

That philosophy has already been reflected in the team’s first appearance at the championship.

With around 475 surfers from more than 50 countries competing, The Bahamas arrived as one of the newcomers but has given its young athletes the opportunity to experience the level of surfing they will need to reach if they are to continue progressing internationally.

The experience is particularly significant because all five surfers are teenagers, with Denning the oldest at 18 and Isaiah the youngest at 13.

Thompson and Yemaya may have completed their competition, but their performances in heavy surf are part of the bigger story of a young Bahamian team getting its first opportunity to compete on one of the sport’s biggest junior stages. 

And with Makayla, Isaiah and Denning still in the hunt, Team Bahamas’ historic debut is far from finished.