Dunedin 16-year-old Alexis Owen caused a major upset at the national surfing championships, snatching the title from eight-time champion Billy Stairmand and defending champion and local favourite Daniel Farr.
Owen was joined by Christchurch surfer Ava Henderson on the winners' dais at Stent Road Beach in Taranaki, with Henderson returning to the winners circle after first claiming the title as a 14-year-old surfer in 2020.
Owen won the final on his last wave with seconds remaining, brought to tears when he heard his winning score while on the rocks.
"I had no idea if I got the score. I knew it would be close, I surfed the wave for what it was, gave it everything, I had one shot. When I heard the score I broke out in tears, I got it, it was so good."
Paris Olympian Stairmand and Farr held a commanding advantage early in the final.
Owen fought back to finish with 15.53 points from his two best-scoring waves, with his final wave of 8.03 points out of a possible 10 sealing the victory.
"I was planning to win the 18s and that didn't go to plan so I was like far, I need to come back and do well in the opens and put it all on the line and I just can't believe, I knew I could do it and I did it, I can't believe it," Owen said.
Stairmand was demoted to second, with Farr third, ahead of Zen Wallis, contesting in his first national final.
Henderson only just made it to the championships after ferry delays and travel complications, but surfing on a borrowed board, the 19-year-old showed that a new care-free approach to surfing had served her well and was the recipe for a second national title.
"Back then I had a lot of pressure on myself but I came here this week to have fun and that's what I did and I came out on top," said Henderson, comparing victory with her win as a 14-year-old in 2020.
"You can't go wrong having fun, when I am relaxed, I feel like I surf a lot better, you can put a lot of pressure on yourself but a lot of the time it doesn't work, not for me anyway."
Henderson surfed to a 16.43 point total for the win in a comfortable victory. with 14-year-old Alani Morse finishing runner up.
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