16 year old Rio Waida has become the first Indonesian ever to win the Quiksilver Young Guns Surf. The event’s prestigious 20 year history has seen champions from a number of nations, and this was a momentous win for both Rio and Indonesia.
“It’s a dream come true,” Rio said. “This is the best result of my life and I’d really like to thank everybody for helping me get here. Big thanks to Quiksilver for putting this event on and to Mikey Wright, Ezekiel Lau and Jeremy Flores for judging.”
The event gathered 1500 entries from 19 countries. 30 of those entries were hand-selected by Quiksilver professional surfers Ezekiel Lau, Mikey Wright and Jeremy Flores.
Those 30 entries went on to a public voting contest — which totaled over 35,000 votes —and the top 9 surfers were flown to California for a 3day long event in Southern California that was organized and hosted by Freddy Patacchia.
The final competitors were Sammy Pupo (BRA), Barron Mamiya (HAW), Cody Young (HAW), Sandy Whittaker (AUS), Malakai Martinez (CRI), Marco Mignot (FRA), Rio Waida (IND), Kyuss King (AUS) and Kael Walsh (AUS), representing 6 different nations. The field was considered a collection of the best 18andunder surfers in the world right now and a glimpse into the future of the sport. It featured a unique and innovative format that promotes pure surfing skill over competitive savvy.
Rio Waida earned $10,000 for his win. French surfer Marco Mingot earned $5000 for second. Sammy Pupo was awarded $1000 from Ezekiel Lau for the best rail turn of the event. Barron Mamiya was awarded $1000 from Mikey Wright for the best air of the event and Rio was awarded an additional $1000 from Jeremy Flores for the best combo of the event. The Quiksilver Young Guns event also has a snow component, which was won by Sam Stillman earlier this year.
Quiksilver (@quiksilver)
Young Guns Surf (#YGSurf)
Finalists:
Malakai Martinez (@mpsmalakai_deez)
Marco Mignot (@marco_mignot)
Sandon Whittaker(@sandonsurf)
Cody Young (@@cody_young_)
Rio Waida (@riowaida_)
Kyuss King (@kyussking)
Kael Walsh(@kaelwalsh)
Samuel Pupo(@samuel_pupo)
Barron Mamiya (@barronmamiya)
Images:
Peter Boskovich (@boskophoto)
Ryan Heywood (@ryanheywood)
Motion:
Vincent Kardasik (@vincentkardasik)
Jimmy Graham (@jimmy__graham)
Wade Carroll (@wadeecarroll)
Edit:
Wade Carroll (@wadeecarroll)
